


you could use a buddy, don't you want a pal? (yes I do! yes I do!)

by Feenie



Category: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Video Game), Xenosaga
Genre: Albedo is his own warning, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon is my Playground, Canonical Character Death, Crossover, Dmitri Yuriev’s A+ Parenting, Found Family, Friendship, Gaignun Kukai needs a hug, Gen, Malos Redemption, Malos needs a hug, Musical References, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, Tags Are Hard, Tags Contain Spoilers, Tags May Change, Team as Family, Title from a Beetlejuice song, Torna needs a hug, every chapter is a song lyric, seriously this is very canon divergent, torna adopts a child
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-01
Updated: 2020-12-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:40:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 25,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22514869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Feenie/pseuds/Feenie
Summary: "Boy, the way I see it, your daddy should be leaving, and you should stick around--and kill him!""What?""Nothing."Or, post-Xenoblade 2, Malos winds up somewhere far from Alrest.Or, Nigredo/Gaignun gets a new friend.Or...AU where Xenosaga is thrown off course.
Relationships: Gaignun Kukai & Junior, Gaignun Kukai & Metsu | Malos, Torna (group)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 49





	1. Your New Best Friend

**Author's Note:**

> you know what? I have nothing to say for myself except I love Gaignun and Malos is my trash man. Trash boy supreme.
> 
> also fuck yuriev and amalthus. fuck 'em.

Nigredo may have been a variant like Rubedo and Albedo, but he was the odd one out. The two were twins, and he was the third wheel, and...well, it was lonely. Rubedo and Albedo were elsewhere when Nigredo first ran into an odd man standing under a tree near the place the three usually played at. He wore armor, and there was a purple glint behind the grate-thing on his chest. The man...almost looked like he could be an older version of him.

When the odd guy noticed Nigredo, he raised an eyebrow. “Hey, kid, where am I?”

“...the Yuriev Facility. Who...Who are you?” Nigredo asked.

The man grunted. “The heck is this Yuriev...whatever. Call me Malos.”

“What are you doing here? Are you with the Federation?” Nigredo wondered.

“Er...no. You’re a bit too calm around a stranger, kid,” Malos said, frowning.

“I’m around strangers a lot. What are you doing here, then?”

“Kid, uh...I’m lost, short and simple. Don’t know where I am or how I ended up here,” Malos admitted.

“Oh! I can take you to Yuriev if you need help!” Nigredo offered.

Malos shook his head. “No, uh. I’ll find my way out of here. It’s fine, alright? Who are you anyway?”

“URTV unit 669, unit name Nigredo,” Nigredo answered, standing up a bit straighter.

“...that’s not a kid’s name,” Malos said, flatly. “Where do I even begin with that response...is Yuriev your dad, or something?”

Nigredo nodded, and Malos sucked in a breath. “...a kid really shouldn’t have a number or anything like that. Look, I gotta go, alright? Take care,” he said.

“Nigredo! Are you out here?” Rubedo called. Nigredo shifted his gaze over to Rubedo approaching, Albedo close behind like always.

“Rubedo! I was just talking with...”

Nigredo turned, and Malos had vanished. “Huh?”

“Who were you talking to? There’s no one out here but you,” Albedo pointed out.

“It was this guy! He was like me but older!” Nigredo explained.

Rubedo shook his head. “Don’t tell me you’re getting imaginary friends now...”

Nigredo, despite all the maturity he had at that age, pouted at his brothers. “He’s not imaginary!”

“Suuuuuure he isn’t.”

“Rubedo...!”

—

For a few days after that meeting, Nigredo constantly checked the spot Malos had been at, hoping he would return. He didn’t dare mention it to Yuriev, and when Sakura asked during a visit...

“Are you okay? You look worried,” Sakura said.

Nigredo quickly nodded. “Y-Yeah, yeah, I’m okay! Just tired!”

“Don’t tell me you’re falling for her too now!” Albedo whined, and Nigredo rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, sure, Sakura has suddenly wooed me and Rubedo, and is bent on charming the whole facility.”

“I knew it!” Albedo declared, and Nigredo dragged a hand down his face as Sakura laughed.

It was not long after that conversation when Nigredo walked out to the courtyard-like area again and saw Malos under the tree again.

“Malos!” he called, running over, and Malos turned to face him. There was frustration evident on his face, but his look softened as Nigredo ran over.

“Heya, kid. Sorry I vanished like that, I’ve been trying to find a way home,” Malos said.

“You couldn’t get a ship or anything?” Nigredo asked.

“‘Fraid not.” A sigh escaped him as he sat down. “Not that I know where home is, even...”

Nigredo peered down at Malos’ hands, curiosity biting at him. They were both covered up, so he couldn’t see the palms, but...

“Are you...me but older?” Nigredo found himself asking.

Malos paused at that, clearly not expecting the question, before snorting. “Kid, you don’t want to grow up to be me. No, I’m not an older you.”

“Oh. Why did you come back here then?” Nigredo pressed.

“Because I could,” Malos answered with a grin. Nigredo frowned, and he added, “I can’t find a ship off this place, my options are limited, kid.”

“Where are you from, if this isn’t your home?” Nigredo asked.

Malos was quiet, as if considering his answer, before he said, “I’m from a place called Alrest. I don’t suppose you’ve heard of it?”

Nigredo shook his head, and Malos huffed. “Figured as much. Look, as much as I like playing 20 Questions, don’t you have elsewhere to be?”

Oh. Crap, he didn’t want anyone to get suspicious...

“I gotta go, but! Can you tell me more about Alrest later?”

Malos shrugged. “Sure. Why not.”

“Thank you Malos!” Nigredo said before hurrying back into the facility. Malos leaned against the tree as he watched him go.

“...is this even Alrest? Where the hell am I?”


	2. circuit board to brain

_System booting…_

_Connecting to Trinity Processor…_

_ERROR: Conduit not found. Scanning for new connection point…_

_Connection point found. Request connection?_

Malos groaned as he woke up. “No, don’t connect to whatever stupid point that is…”

Since he had somehow arrived on this planet, whatever the time period was, Malos had taken to sleeping on the roof of the Yuriev Facility in an attempt to keep something of a low profile. He was far, _far_ away from Alrest, there was basically no ether here, he was lucky somehow he reformed with his core crystal intact and not cracked to all hell...

He was even luckier that wherever he was, they at least had space travel. Not even Alrest got that far. This...couldn’t have been the past, before the Conduit, before they lost Ontos, before Amalthus’ voice seemed to fill his head, screaming for everything and everyone to just _die_ —

It was quiet now. So quiet. Malos didn’t know whether to consider that a blessing or not. Either it was because he was too far from Amalthus or he was dead or just...something that permanently broke their bond. He didn’t really care, he didn’t need a Driver like every other Blade (even Mythra, the golden child) needed one, but…

The kid he found himself chatting with nowadays came to mind, and he dismissed the thought on the spot. There were at least 669 kids running around this facility, there had to be one that didn’t seem like a younger version of him.

Malos _really_ didn’t want to think about what could have been for him right now.

“Malos?” a far more familiar voice called, softly, and Malos turned around to see Akhos, clambering onto the rooftop.

Malos cracked a grin. “Akhos! How the hell are you alive?”

“I don’t know, I just woke up and saw you on the roof, where are we??” Akhos questioned in turn.

Malos’ grin slowly fell as he answered, “Some place called the Yuriev Facility. It’s not anywhere on Alrest from what I’ve gathered.”

Akhos groaned, sitting beside Malos. “So not the afterlife, then.”

“Definitely not. Don’t think that the afterlife has weirdos with like 669 kids,” Malos said.

There was a pause for a minute, before Akhos turned to Malos. “What.”

“I’m serious, this Yuriev guy has at least 669 kids here, I met one of them when I found myself here!” Malos explained.

“Do you think this could be some sort of artificial Blade factory?” Akhos wondered. “It wouldn’t surprise me at this point…”

“Probably not. The kid I met seemed human enough,” Malos said. The sky above was turning from indigo to gold, the first rays of light shining from the horizon. The two sat in silence before Malos let out a long sigh.

“I tried to get off this planet, but I couldn’t really find a ship. And I know way too little about where we are right now to try to steal one.”

“If we survived, surely the rest of Torna had to as well,” Akhos noted, raising a hand to his chin. “If they’re still here, we need to stay.”

A frown crossed his face. “I’m not leaving Patroka behind. Not after all that.”

“I’m in no rush. As long as Patroka and Mikhail don’t go and do something stupid, they’ll probably be fine.”

Malos yawned, and Akhos raised an eyebrow. “And Jin?”

“Jin isn’t likely to go around freezing people for the hell of it,” Malos pointed out, and Akhos snorted.

“That is true!”

—

It was later that day when Nigredo came outside as usual, and Akhos peered down at him curiously.

“That child looks a lot like you, Malos.”

“Oh, that kid’s Nigredo, I’ve been hanging out with him a bit,” Malos said, peering over.

“I never imagined you as a—“

Akhos paused as two other kids came out, identical to Nigredo save for one with fire-red hair and blue eyes, and one with bone-white hair and purple eyes. Malos grimaced, unease creeping along his spine.

“Oh, wow. They’re almost identical,” Akhos muttered.

The kids seemed to be talking about something Malos didn’t quite catch, namely the redhead scolding the white-haired one.

“All he has to do is regenerate!” the white-haired kid said, casually.

“What…?” The redhead began before the white-haired boy summoned a purple ball of energy and raised it to his head.

“What the—?!” Akhos began, alarmed. He barely had his bow out, arrow aimed at the ball of energy, before—

Malos was certain a regular kid should not just blow up his head like that. Blood splattered all over the wall, and Nigredo and the redhead _screamed_.

“Holy shit,” was all Malos could utter, Akhos nearly dropping his bow.

The show didn’t stop there as the kid—his head _grew back._ A Blade could technically survive that, though by way of retreating into their core crystal, but—

“See! Just like that!” the kid said, almost too cheerily for Malos’ liking.

Malos and Akhos stepped away from the roof’s edge, exchanging looks.

“So. This definitely isn’t an artificial Blade factory. It is, at least, producing artificial humans,” Akhos said, staring at his bow. “And. That kid just blew up his own head. And grew it back.”

“Yeah. Yeah, uh. What the fuck is happening?” Malos wondered aloud as the white-haired boy hugged the redhead, Nigredo quietly stepping off to the side. The two kids walked back inside, and that finally let Malos jump off the roof.

“So, uh, Nigredo? Can you do that too? Because that was kinda disturbing!”

Nigredo yelped before turning to Malos, and he saw the kid’s eyes glowing for a second before he straightened up.

“You scared me for a moment…”

“Sorry. You okay?” Malos asked.

“Sort of. That was Albedo, unit 667. He’s my older brother, and he…”

Nigredo looked away. “...he was beating up another unit, and he thought he could just regenerate. Then he just...blew his head up…”

“...I have questions that I’m not sure if I want answered or not,” Malos said, internally wincing. “All that unpleasantness aside, I’ve got one of my pals here with me today.”

Nigredo’s eyes lit up as Akhos leapt off the roof and landed as gracefully as could be. “Nigredo, meet Akhos. Akhos, Nigredo.”

“A pleasure to meet you,” Akhos greeted with a nigh-theatrical bow.

“Nice to meet you!” Nigredo chirped before stopping and looking back up. “...were you guys on the roof this whole time?”

“...yes. Only for a dramatic entrance, however!” Akhos quickly added.

Nigredo clearly did not look convinced, though there was the beginnings of a smile on his face. “Uh-huh, suuuuure.”

“Give us some credit, kid, we looked cool!” Malos lightly complained, grinning himself.

“Yeah, just hanging out on a rooftop, that’s cool!” Nigredo said, clearly about to start giggling.

“Alright, alright,” Malos said with a huff, “enough messing around. Want me to tell you about Alrest today?”

Nigredo nodded enthusiastically and sat down, looking up at Malos and Akhos. Akhos hummed before asking, “Mind if I join? I’m willing to offer some info myself, if you’re interested.”

“Go ahead, you probably remember more about what we’ve seen than I do,” Malos answered, and Akhos sat beside him.

“Where to start...once upon a time, in another world far, far away, there was a sea of clouds…”

\--

The hour passed with the two telling Nigredo about Alrest. Nothing about Torna or the Aegises just yet--just stories about the world they once lived in. The Gormotti living amongst the trees, the Urayans and Tantalese living inside their titans, the might of the Mor Ardanians, the peace on Fonsett’s islands, and…

Neither of them brought up Indol, for obvious reasons. Never mind Morytha, Temperantia, or any of the titans long gone.

“And then there’s the Blades, the Architect’s gifts to his creations.” Try as he might, Malos couldn’t keep the sour tone out of his voice mentioning his dear old dad. “The Blades were beings of immense power that had to be bonded to a human in order to work. You never knew exactly what you were gonna get--maybe you’d get a white tiger, maybe you’d get a powerful swordsman, or maybe you’d wind up with a _very_ plain humanoid.”

“You’d have to find a core crystal first, and even then you’d have to have the right spark for it, so to say. If you don’t have that spark, you’d wind up more or less dead in the worst case scenario,” Akhos added.

Nigredo’s eyes were wide and shiny. “Do you think I’ll find a Blade to bond with?”

Malos shrugged. “Can’t say for sure. They could just be an Alrest thing, and I haven’t seen any Blades hanging around here.”

That didn’t seem to deter Nigredo much, given he still looked up at the two in awe. “A Blade could really help us…!”

Malos quirked an eyebrow. “How so? What exactly were you and your siblings created for?”

“We were made to kill this being called U-DO. According to dad, U-DO is this...it’s this _thing_ that’s connected to the UMN, and if we don’t stop it, it’s going to hurt more people like it hurt him,” Nigredo explained.

Malos and Akhos exchanged confused looks. “A thing? And he created 669 kids for this...thing,” Malos noted.

“Uh-huh! My older brother Rubedo is our leader, he’s the one with red hair!” Nigredo added.

“Why go through the trouble of 669 children for one being? Is this the only option available to them?” Akhos wondered, mumbling to himself.

“Kid, you shouldn’t be raised to fight some vague-sounding _thing_ or anything, you should be allowed to just...I don’t know, grow up!” Malos said. “Leave the worry about mysterious beings and shit to grown-ups!”

He wasn’t thinking about Rex. Nope. Wasn’t thinking about how Rex wasn’t that much older than Nigredo from the looks of it.

“Did Yuriev even give you the choice?” Akhos asked, and Nigredo’s uneasy frown answered his question.

“I mean...we’re going to be helping people! Dad said if we destroy U-DO, then no one else will be hurt like he was!” Nigredo said.

Malos sucked in a breath, wanting to ask Nigredo how was Yuriev hurt, what comes after, what is going to happen to 669 kids once their function is done, but those weren’t questions for the kid in front of him.

“We should probably let you go now,” he said instead. “Your brothers probably wanna know where you ran off to.”

Nigredo nodded and ran off. “See you guys later!” he called before re-entering the building.

“Yuriev is hiding something,” Akhos declared once Nigredo couldn’t hear them. “This U-DO is new, but you can’t tell me kids would do a better job than adults for whatever he needs them to do.”

“That, or he doesn’t understand U-DO either. I’m not the brains, and I could be talking out of my ass here, but if he’s given that little information to his kids…”

Malos grunted. “We need the rest of our gang back. I want to see just what Yuriev knows, and how much he’s keeping from his kids.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> y'all ever think about how rex is canonically the youngest out of all the xeno series protags? he's 14 while everyone else is at least 18, and that's going by the assumption cross/rook is at least a young adult
> 
> he's too young for this


	3. players soon appeared, and i quickly was revered

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this must be what love would have felt like

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big thanks to NihilismBot on twitter for suggestions on the fic, and also just their help in general when my memory on this series doesn't work!

The day was drawing to an end as Malos and Akhos paced around the rooftop, thinking out a plan. They had no real idea as to where the rest of Torna had gone, but Akhos didn’t seem wholly bothered.

“If we wound up on this planet, the others are likely nearby as well,” he said.

“Where do we start looking? It feels like we might as well be floundering in the Cloud Sea for all we know,” Malos wondered.

“Malos?! Akhos?!” another familiar voice called, and Malos and Akhos turned their heads to see Patroka on the roof just a ways away, breaking into a run to them. “You’re both alive?!”

“Patroka!” Akhos gasped, running to meet her halfway. “There you are, I was worried after…!”

“How. How are we alive? Amalthus took our cores, we should be…” Patroka began before the two checked their cores. They were shining bright blue, red splashed across them like blood, no damage visibly present.

“Dead,” Akhos finished before shrugging. “We don’t know what’s going on. We’re on some planet named Zavarov, and this place is called the Yuriev Facility.”

“This is probably a place nothing to do with Alrest, by the way,” Malos added. “And this Yuriev asshole made like 669 kids _at least_ just to fight this thing called U-DO. Not exactly sunshine and rainbows here.”

Patroka stared, as if trying to figure out to say, before finally settling on a very confused, “What the _fuck._ ”

“Join the club! We’re trying to figure out what this Yuriev guy knows and what he’s hiding from his kids,” Malos explained.

“There have to be guards here. There is a possible option in disguising ourselves, though we’d have to be careful about how we go about that,” Akhos noted.

“Breaking and entering isn’t an option?” Patroka guessed, folding her arms.

“We don’t know what they really have here. From what I’ve gathered around this place, they’re beyond Mor Ardain in terms of technology,” Akhos replied. “The fact one man was able to create 669 children alone…”

The three sat in a small circle, Patroka looking down at the courtyard nearby. “How do you know all this?” she asked.

“I befriended the youngest kid,” Malos explained, and Patroka gawked at him. “Don’t look at me like that, I was lost and the kid looked like a younger me, I couldn’t just ignore him like that!”

“It’s true,” Akhos piped up.

“Okay. How much does the kid know about us?” Patroka questioned, folding her arms.

“Just that we come from a land called Alrest and most of the titans that live in it,” Malos answered. “Keyword being most. And we told him a bit about Blades.”

Patroka nodded slowly. “Nothing about us?”

“Not a word. The kid looked excited about Blades, and said they’d probably help them...there’s this thing called U-DO that all we know is connected to this UMN thing, and apparently it’s a big enough deal that Yuriev has kids made to fight it,” Malos explained.

“And this UMN is…?” Patroka asked, and was met with shrugs from Malos and Akhos. “...that’s real helpful.”

“We’re going to work on recon when we can. Main goals right now are to find out if Yuriev is telling these kids the full truth, and to reunite with the rest of Torna,” Akhos said. “We’d stand a better chance with Jin and Mikhail back.”

“Got it. What do you need me to do?”

“For now, gather information about the time period we’re in and what this UMN is. If you can, find Mikhail and Jin,” Akhos responded. “And please, for all that is good, don’t get into a fight. If even a child doesn’t know what a Blade is here, I doubt the rest of this world knows what they are.”

“I make no promises on that last part,” Patroka responded, walking away.

“I mean it, Patroka!” Akhos shouted.

“Listen to your brother!” Malos called, grinning.

“He’s not my brother!” Patroka shouted back before she was gone.

\--

Malos didn’t know at what point he fell asleep, but he was awoken by Akhos nudging him in the side.

“Are you awake yet? Sun’s rising.”

Malos groaned and opened an eye. “Already?” he muttered. “Can’t I sleep for five more minutes…”

Despite his protests, he sat up, blinking up at the sky. For a moment or so he forgot he wasn’t in Alrest anymore, and found himself trying to find the World Tree before recalling the past few days. “...is Patroka back yet?”

Akhos shook his head. “I assume she’ll be back before long.”

The two sat in silence, watching clouds start to cover the sky, before Akhos asked, “Malos, what is our goal once we’ve all reunited and uncovered whatever it is Yuriev is hiding? Alrest is, presumably, no longer an option for us even if we could find a way back.”

“Good question,” Malos admitted. “I’m not exactly chomping at the bit to continue destroying everything since none of this is dear old dad’s handiwork. And I don’t know about finding a new Driver, since. Well.”

He coughed lightly. “And daddy dearest must have it out for me, because core crystals breaking usually means death. Even for me. Unless this is his way of grounding me.”

Akhos snorted. “I’m not particularly interested in the ‘why’ of all this, just what comes next. Blades don’t exist in this world, from the looks of it, otherwise I’m certain we would have seen even one or two as a guard by now. We could try to live normal lives once we gather what information we need and get off this planet.”

“Yeah, three Flesh Eaters, one Blade Eater, and an Aegis, all from another world, living peacefully. I have my doubts things will go that smoothly,” Malos snarked.

“And what about that child, Nigredo? Do you intend to take him along with us?” Akhos asked.

Malos sighed. “Him and any of his siblings we can save.”

“Why do you care so much about him? Is it simply because he looks like you if you had been a child?” Akhos probed.

“That’s part of it,” Malos admitted, folding his arms. The what-ifs were hanging heavily around him--what if Amalthus had never climbed the World Tree, what if he had been Addam and Rex’s Blade, what if someone had convinced him Alrest was worth fighting for, what if, what if, _what if--_

“And the other part?” Akhos asked.

“I feel sorry for the kid, alright? He’s too young for this shit,” Malos responded, unable to keep the edge out of his voice. “He shouldn’t be fighting his dad’s battles for him, especially if they know fuck all about what they’re fighting! Why is Yuriev too cowardly to fight for himself?!”

“We’ve encountered those of similar stance before,” Akhos reminded. “Why is it bothering you so much?”

“I don’t know, maybe it’s because this is a kid possibly being lied to and used as a weapon? I mean, Rex can’t be much older than this kid, but he had Mythra! He at least had adults willing to help and to tell him what was going on, Nigredo can’t even say the same!”

Malos found himself slamming a fist against the rooftop. “At least that kid had adults with him! What is Yuriev getting out of this aside from possibly a bunch of dead kids on his hands? This U-DO can’t possibly be that bad, can it?”

“Perhaps we should kill it ourselves,” Akhos snarked. When he saw the pondering look on Malos’s face, he groaned. “Malos, no.”

“Why not? We get info on this U-DO, we find out how to kill it, Nigredo won’t have to risk his life,” Malos said.

“That’s assuming--”

“I found Mik!” Patroka shouted, followed by indignant yelping as Mikhail was tossed onto the roof.

“...hey, Mik,” Malos greeted, ever so casually.

“That hurt!” Mikhail protested, sitting up. “What was that for?”

“I needed to get you up here, that was the easiest way,” Patroka answered, hoisting herself onto the roof.

“I was awake, you realize!” Mikhail complained. “Anyways…”

He stood up, brushing himself off. “What did I miss?”

“Oh, you know. Guy using kids to fight his own battles, mysterious beings we have no earthly idea what they are. The usual,” Malos answered.

“...what happened to Alrest while we were dead?” Mikhail asked, looking at Akhos and Patroka as if the two of them could explain.

“This isn’t Alrest, actually. We just know this planet in particular is called Zavarov and we’re standing on a place called the Yuriev Facility,” Akhos explained. “And Malos has taken a liking to a child that looks like him.”

“I’d complain if not for the fact that part is true,” Malos grumbled.

Mikhail balked at Malos. “A kid? I was a kid back then and you didn’t treat me any differently than you did Lora or Addam!”

“I took you in!” Malos responded.

“Only because Jin threatened to leave if you didn’t!” Mikhail retorted.

Malos huffed loudly, folding his arms. “Whatever, I still took you in!”

“Oh for…” Mikhail turned to Akhos. “Anything else we need to be caught up on?”

\--

Nigredo walked into Yuriev’s office, heart pounding in his ears as he looked up at Yuriev. Yuriev looked down at him, no emotion discernible on his face.

“Do you know why I called you in here, Nigredo?”

Nigredo shook his head. His voice was trapped in his throat, and despite the fact this was his dad, not a wild animal of some sort, he wanted to just run away from the office and hide, and pray Yuriev wouldn’t pursue him. His legs would barely let him move, however, and so he stayed put.

“Rubedo and Albedo were mentioning that you had an imaginary friend now after free time yesterday. Would you care to explain that?” Yuriev asked.

Nigredo’s face grew red. He tried to summon the courage to use his hypno-voice, any bit of it that would get him out of this situation, but it failed.

“Well?” Yuriev prompted, drumming his fingers against the desk.

“I-It was just a dream, nothing...nothing else,” Nigredo lied, praying Yuriev would believe it. “I was napping under a tree, and I think I dreamed about meeting my older self.”

Yuriev raised an eyebrow and scanned Nigredo over. After what felt like hours, Yuriev sighed. “Very well. If it was just a misunderstanding, you are free to go. I advise against making imaginary friends when you have your siblings, Nigredo.”

Nigredo could only nod before scampering out of the room. When Yuriev was certain he wasn’t going to come back in, he pulled up security footage from the past few days, glaring at the image of the man in black.

“...an imaginary friend indeed.”


	4. such dedication, they came from miles away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> with eyes so piercing, they'd wait their turn to play

Later that day, Malos watched as Nigredo scurried out from the facility, a wild-eyed expression on his face as he scoured the area like a mouse would for a cat. Patroka and Mikhail peered over his shoulder to sneak a look.

“The eye color is different, but…” Patroka began, murmuring.

“I’m still ticked off you liked this kid more than you liked me,” Mikhail grumped, and Malos rolled his eyes. He whistled just loud enough for Nigredo to hear, and Nigredo looked up.

“Malos, I...I think dad knows about you…” he said, a pained look on his face.

Malos hopped off the roof. “Was he asking about us?” he guessed. When Nigredo nodded, Malos sighed quietly. “Yeah, I imagine at least someone’s seen us by now.”

Akhos, Patroka, and Mikhail hopped off the roof in short order, and Nigredo looked even more stressed at the sight of them. “Oh, no…”

“Well, that’s not the first time a kid has reacted poorly to me,” Mikhail cracked, prompting Patroka to elbow him. “Okay, okay, what’s wrong?”

“Dad...h-he knows,” Nigredo said. “I think he knows about you guys, and I’m scared of what he’ll do!”

“Whoa, Nigredo, it’s going to be okay,” Malos said, bending down so he was at eye level. “We can handle whatever Yuriev dishes out, alright? We’re tougher than we look.”

“I’m _scared_ , it--it feels like he could do anything and I can’t do anything or else he’ll do something _worse_ ,” Nigredo admitted, shoulders shaking and chest rapidly rising and falling.

“Kiddo, hey, hey, it will be okay,” Malos repeated in as soothing a voice he could manage. “Yuriev only has so much power, alright? I’m not about to let him hurt you or your siblings if I can manage it.”

Nigredo clung to him like static, and Malos froze for a good minute, eyes wide. Patroka and Akhos stepped forward, looking at him for orders before he shook his head minutely. “No, it’s fine, he just surprised me is all.”

His attention shifted back to Nigredo, and he wrapped an arm around him. “Kid, if Yuriev lays a finger on you or your siblings, he’s a dead man, alright?”

Despite how terrified he sounded of his own dad (oh, how Malos wish he had Aion with him now), Nigredo flinched. “...don’t kill him. Please. H-He has some good in him, doesn’t he?”

Malos winced. “...for his sake, kid, he’d better show that good.”

Nigredo slowly let go, and sat down. “...sorry.”

“Don’t be, kiddo. Do you want to talk about something else?” Malos suggested.

“Please,” was all Nigredo said, and Malos sat down in front of him.

“Alright. Let me introduce you to two more of my pals—Patroka and Mikhail,” Malos said, gesturing to each in turn.

Patroka nodded. “Nice to meet you.”

“Heya!” Mikhail greeted with a grin. “Man, you’re lucky, Malos didn’t give a hoot about me when I was your age.”

Nigredo blinked up at Mikhail. “...how old are you?”

“Older than us,” Akhos and Patroka declared with matching grins, and Mikhail pouted.

“Malooooooos, they’re making fun of my age again!” he whined, though there was no real annoyance in his tone.

“I’m older than the hills and they make fun of that all the time,” Malos said, waving dismissively. “You’ll get over it!”

“So mean!” Mikhail complained, dramatically raising a hand to his forehead. “So disrespectful to your elders!”

Nigredo started giggling, and Mikhail flashed a grin at Malos. “It seems I have his approval!”

Malos rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, sure. Let’s go with that. Feeling better now, kid?”

“Much better,” Nigredo responded, smiling. “Thank you.”

“No problem. Now, anything you wanna chat about?” Malos asked.

“Do you guys have a name for your group?” Nigredo asked in turn.

“Well, yes, we call ourselves Torna,” Akhos began. “We named ourselves such after a titan that once existed, but sank to the bottom of the Cloud Sea.”

“ _Excuse me?!_ ” a female voice pierced the air, and Malos shut his eyes and groaned. At least it was her and not Mythra, was all he could think as Mikhail gasped.

“Lora?”

Malos opened his eyes to see Lora standing on the roof, whip clenched in hand and gold eyes full of pure rage. She looked the same as they had last fought, minus--

Where was Jin? While yes, Lora was from Torna, she had been dead for over 500 years, never mind that Jin used her heart to become a Flesh Eater…

“So after everything you’ve done, Malos,” Lora snarled, “you sank Torna and take its name for your little group?! Was all the death you inflicted not enough?!”

“Lora, is it really you? You look the same as you did back then…” Mikhail said, eyes wide.

Lora didn’t answer, glare locked onto Malos. “You will know the suffering you caused Torna and its people!” she shouted before charging at Malos. He had enough time to shove Nigredo out of the way before Lora was on him, her whip wrapping around his arm and yanking him forward. Her free fist met his face, and something ticked in Malos’s head: Jin and/or Haze had to be alive, unless Lora was just this strong without needing a Blade.

“M-Malos!” Nigredo squeaked, and Malos inwardly groaned as he attempted to yank his arm free from the whip. This was going to require even more of an explanation than just a simple “Oh we named ourselves after a dead titan” and he was not looking forward to that.

“Do you know how many people died when you targeted Auresco?!” Lora questioned, dragging Malos closer. “Do you know what it was like, seeing a child cradle his best friend’s dead body? Do you have _any_ idea how many corpses you’ve left in your wake, Malos?! And dare I ask what you’re doing with that child?”

“I’m not hurting him!” Malos protested, narrowly avoiding another punch to the face. He was able to pull his arm out of the whip, teleporting just out of reach. “And I don’t need the reminder of my body count, thanks!”

“Why are you still alive?! After everything you’ve done, why is it _you_ who gets to live and not Hugo, or Milton, or...or…!”

Lora’s voice cracked, and her shoulders started to shake. She started toward Malos again before another voice, thankfully familiar as could be, stopped her in her tracks.

“Lora, wait!” Jin shouted, leaping onto, then off the rooftop into the courtyard. “It’s not what you think!”

“What am I supposed to think? That Malos is holding up Torna’s fall like it was a trophy?!” Lora questioned.

Mikhail, Akhos, and Patroka had summoned their weapons, but only Mikhail moved to stand before Nigredo. Nigredo was frozen, eyes wide, clearly poised to run back into the Facility, but…

“Lora, you’ve missed a lot, I’m afraid,” Mikhail said, looking down at Nigredo. “This isn’t Alrest. And things are super different here.”

Lora, perhaps finally snapping out of her rage, finally looked toward Mikhail as her grip loosened on her whip. “...Mikhail, Architect above, is that you? You were just a child before…”

Jin approached Lora. His core crystal was hidden beneath his hair, so Malos couldn’t get a glimpse of it, but he wondered, given Lora was up and moving. “There’s...a lot to explain,” Jin said, quietly.

“Go back inside, kiddo,” Malos prompted. “We need to talk things through with Lora.”

“A-Are you going to be okay?” Nigredo asked, voice trembling.

“I’ll be fine. Takes more than a punch to the face to put me down,” Malos said, weakly grinning. Nigredo just scurried back inside, and Malos turned back to face Lora and Jin.

“So. Let’s take this to the rooftops so we can hide, in the event someone overheard your attempt at beating me up,” he suggested.

“What is going on here, that child--was that your Driver?” Lora asked.

“I’m in no rush to find another Driver after dealing with Amalthus for so long,” Malos replied as the group climbed onto the roof. “Kid doesn’t need a destructive asshole like me anyways. At least not until his dad is dealt with.”

Lora stared at Malos as though he had grown two heads. “Who are you and what have you done with Malos?”

“Your faith in my character development is touching,” Malos snarked. “Look, my original Driver is dead, the Architect himself is dead, everyone you knew from the past 500 years is dead and gone. Blades aside.”

“500 years?” Lora repeated before her eyes widened and her hand shot up to her chest. “...I was dead, I remember, and Jin…”

Jin bowed his head. “I’m sorry,” he said, quietly.

“How am I alive again?” Lora questioned Malos, and he could only shrug.

“Hell if I know. Your body was being preserved on our ship, and Jin quite literally had your heart, so. Probably why you’re alive and not any of our Drivers.”

“...my body was _what_.” Lora turned to look at Jin, who was staring at the roof away from her.

“Jin.”

“Uh.”

“ _Ji_ _n?_ ”

Jin coughed. “...I wasn’t ready to say good bye.”

“That’s sweet but also _what in the Architect’s name were you thinking??_ ” Lora pressed.

Jin had no answer, and Lora turned to face Malos. “What have I missed, then?”

“Well, Mythra sealed herself away, a kid named Rex became her Driver, and they kicked our asses. That’s the short of it from our world. Here, we have an asshole named Yuriev with 669 kids who plans to use them against a “thing” called U-DO, which we have no information about aside from the fact it exists,” Malos explained.

Lora blinked, clearly trying to digest the information before dragging a hand down her face and muttering something under her breath. “Okay. Okay.”

“Welcome to the club,” Malos said.

“And that child, then? Is he one of those kids?” Lora guessed.

“The youngest of them, going off the fact he introduced himself as unit 669. Look, you have every reason to believe I’m lying, but the way the kid reacted when Yuriev almost found out about us, something isn’t right here and this kid needs to get away from him,” Malos said, watching Lora’s expression carefully. She was watching him like a hawk, crossing her arms.

“How do I know you aren’t using him for anything? How do I know that this all isn’t a big lie so Jin and I stay off your back?” she questioned. Malos inwardly swore—she wouldn’t know about what Jin did after her death, but...Jin had her now. He didn’t need Torna, he didn’t need Malos.

“Because I don’t give a shit about you, alright? Look, my main goal is to get rid of this U-DO, get Nigredo and any of his siblings I can away from Yuriev as far as humanly possible, and then just _fuck off_.”

Hopefully no one would question him on that last bit.

“I’m not going to pretend we could ever get along,” Malos said, folding his arms in turn. “That ship sailed and sank the moment Amalthus laid hands on my core crystal and woke me up. Once the kid is safe and Yuriev dead and buried if I gotta, then I’m out of your hair, okay? And you and Jin can go find better lives in whatever kind of world we’re in.”

No one immediately spoke, Jin looking up at Malos with unreadable eyes. Lora was carefully considering everything he had said before she sat back and sighed. “Fine. I’ll cooperate for now until we can part ways.”

Malos bit back a snarky response and forced himself to nod.

“And as for you, Mikhail,” Lora began, shifting to face Mikhail with the sort of tone you’d expect from a scolding mother, “what happened? You joined with Malos, of all people?”

“Only to get back at Amalthus,” Mikhail said, squirming in discomfort. “Lora, he was experimenting with core crystals and grafting them onto people. I got caught up in it all, and…”

He hesitated. “When you’re the only Tornan survivor and a kid with nowhere to go, your options are limited.”

“Titan’s foot,” Lora murmured, eyes wide. “The questions I have…”

“Get comfortable,” Patroka advised, “we have a lot to catch you up on.”

—

Day turned to night, the group staying perched on the rooftop and hopefully out of sight. Akhos was off gathering what information he could, Malos was keeping watch, and Patroka, Mikhail, and Jin were filling in Lora on everything since her death.

When they reached the part about Jin and Malos joining forces was about when Malos really attempted to keep watch, not wanting to even look at Lora.

“She’s telling the truth,” Jin confirmed, and a sharp gasp from Lora followed after.

“Architect above, Jin, even after he sank Torna?!”

“It wasn’t a simple partnership,” Malos piped up. “I doubted he would have lasted as long as he had if I didn’t find him in Mor Adain.”

He still remembered the subzero glare Jin gave him when he found him that day. He still remembered seeing Lora’s corpse, frozen, the chest bandaged to hide what was missing. Malos and Jin were close, yes, but—

Lora made a displeased sound. Mikhail sighed and said, “That’s probably enough for today. All quiet, Malos?”

“As can be—“

As if dear old dad had willed it, the sound of one of the doors opening instantly shut him up, and he took a step back. What followed were footsteps, and the sound of a certain kind of muttering Malos had grown used to during the brief times he spent with Amalthus.

“They’ll die before me...gotta make their graves...gotta practice…”

Malos peeked over the edge to see the white-haired kid--Albedo, his memory banks quickly filled in--shambling toward the far end of the courtyard.

“...who is it?” Mikhail asked.

“Albedo, he’s one of the kid’s older siblings. What’s he doing out at this hour?”

Malos walked around the rooftop, watching as Albedo approached the other end of the courtyard, fell to his knees in front of some trees, and started digging up the earth with his bare hands.

“I won’t cry, Rubedo...big boys don’t cry…I’ll just make your grave...”

Malos circled back around. “Yeah, uh, I think he’s digging graves for his siblings. Totally a normal thing for a kid who can blow his own head off.”

“ _He can do what,_ ” Lora, Patroka, and Mikhail chorused, staring up at Malos. Jin was now sitting several feet away, and was giving off a very strong ‘I’m in trouble with my Driver so I’m sitting alone in shame’ air.

“Did I--I swore I mentioned that bit when Albedo blew up his own head and grew it back?” Malos looked between the three.

“...I need to lie down,” Lora declared, walking away.


	5. if i could begin to be half of what you think of me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i could do about anything, i could even learn how to love

The morning sky was covered in pink clouds when Akhos hauled himself onto the Facility’s roof. Malos had fallen asleep sitting up, Jin was keeping watch, Patroka and Mikhail were asleep in the center of the area, and Lora was lying a good several feet away from the rest of the group with her whip in hands.

Jin nodded to Akhos as he returned to the group. “Did you find anything?”

“I found something better than even a leading role,” Akhos said, taking out a small handheld device. “I saw a few of these people were carrying these around, and someone had tossed this one away. We finally have a good way to learn more about this stage.”

“Nicely done,” Jin said as Akhos powered it on and sat by Jin.

“It’s been wiped, so I’ll have to fiddle with it, but this is still a boon!” Akhos went on. He paused, then glanced at Jin. “How much did they explain last night?”

Jin looked away, frowning. “...Lora knows I joined Torna after her death now. She wasn’t happy.”

“I’d be more surprised if she were. I’m not in a position to offer advice, though I assume she still wants to be your Driver if she hasn’t dismissed you yet,” Akhos noted.

There was a moment of quiet as the device booted up before Akhos asked, “With Lora back...your core crystal, is it…?”

Jin pushed back the locks of hair covering his crystal to reveal it glimmering pure blue, no hint of red in sight.

“Ah,” Akhos found himself saying, blinking slowly. “I should have assumed.”

“I don’t know what we’ll do once we part ways,” Jin admitted, “but Lora and I need to at least make amends. And I can only hope that’s possible with her.”

Malos suddenly raised his head and yawned, loud enough to make Akhos jolt. “If my core tries to connect to that stupid--oh. Morning, you two.”

“I found a device I saw a few people carrying while I was scouting about. This is more than likely our key to getting any information we need in this world,” Akhos said, holding up the device.

Malos cracked a grin. “Nice! Mind if I take a crack at it?”

Akhos quirked an eyebrow. “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather me handle it? Or Mikhail for that matter?”

“Positive. Gives me something to do while we plan some more at least,” Malos answered. Akhos shrugged and handed over the device. A small screen popped up, revealing an anthropomorphic white rabbit.

“Welcome to the UMN! I am the mascot, Bunnie, and I will be your guide!” it greeted in a squeaky voice.

“...well, at least there’s a cute little stagehand,” Akhos noted.

“If I don’t want to retreat in my core crystal in an hour, be concerned,” Malos muttered. “Now, let’s see what we need to know about this world…”

\--

Nigredo was hesitant to go out to the courtyard today during his free time. After Malos had been attacked yesterday, and all those things that lady shouted…

“Hey, Nigredo!” Rubedo called, running up to him. “Can I ask you something?”

“Oh, yeah! What is it?” Nigredo asked.

“Do you know what’s up with Albedo? This morning he came into my room covered in dirt and half-asleep,” Rubedo said.

“...uh, no,” Nigredo responded. “Do you think it has something to do with the whole immortality thing?”

“Probably. Ugh, I hope this doesn’t happen again...why do you keep going outside when we have free time, anyways?” Rubedo asked.

“I just want fresh air after being inside so much,” Nigredo replied, internally wincing at the idea of lying to Rubedo’s face. Yuriev was one thing, but his brothers…

Rubedo clearly didn’t believe it, Nigredo guessed, based on his frown. “Are you sure that’s all it is?”

Nigredo nodded. “P-Positive!”

Rubedo sighed. “Alright, alright, that’s all. I’m gonna check on Albedo again,” he decided, walking away. Once Rubedo was out of sight, Nigredo walked outside.

“Malos?” he called softly. “Can we...talk about what happened yesterday?”

“Up here,” Mikhail called in turn, and Nigredo turned to see Malos scrolling through something on a comm device, eyes glued to the screen. From where Nigredo was standing, he could see the rest of the group nearby, though that lady was very clearly keeping her distance from them. Mikhail was standing next to him, waving before hopping down.

“We got our hands on a comm device, and we’re trying to catch up on everything. Malos hasn’t moved from that spot in like...hours, he won’t even let me take a look at the comm. What did you want to talk about?”

Nigredo glanced up at Malos again before looking back to Mikhail. “What was...all that, yesterday? Why was...uh…”

“Lora?” Mikhail filled in.

Nigredo nodded. “Yeah, Lora. Why was she so angry at Malos?”

Mikhail took a deep breath, steepling his fingers. “It’s...a long story, and not a happy one at that. It’s not that I don’t want to tell you what happened, it’s more like...well.”

He glanced up at Malos, still scrolling through whatever he was reading. “The short of it is Malos, Akhos, Patroka, Jin and I were once terrible people. We hurt and killed others because the world had hurt us, and we wanted revenge. Malos especially--he sank three titans and killed...a _lot_ of people. Lora was indirectly hurt from all that.”

Mikhail folded his arms, looking at the ground. “We really aren’t in a position to defend ourselves. We were hurt, yes, but that didn’t give us the right to make others suffer like we had. And we... _really_ should atone for everything we’ve done. I’m sorry we didn’t really share that up front.”

Nigredo could only stare up at Mikhail, trying to process everything, before falling and sitting in front of him. Mikhail blinked and waved a hand in Nigredo’s face.

“Kid? You okay?”

“...I do not know how to react to that,” Nigredo mumbled.

“If you don’t want us around any longer, that’s fine,” Akhos said from above, sitting and dangling his legs off the edge. “We probably really shouldn’t be around kids.”

“N-No, I--don’t go, please!” Nigredo pleaded, standing back up. “I don’t...I don’t really want you to leave! I…”

He gripped his arm, looking away. “Things are tense here right now. Albedo’s struggling with the fact he’s immortal while we aren’t, I’m scared about what dad might do once he finds out about you guys, and the last time we dove into Sakura’s subconscious--!”

Nigredo froze. “I-I mean…”

Mikhail rested a hand on Nigredo’s shoulder. “Breathe a bit, okay? Just breathe.”

Nigredo nodded, shakily drawing a breath. “...I know I shouldn’t trust you if you said you hurt others, but I don’t know any other adults to talk to here. Don’t go, please…”

“We won’t if you don’t want us to leave,” Mikhail assured. “Don’t worry, Nigredo.”

Nigredo murmured a word of gratitude, shortly before Malos jolted out of his reverie. “Hoooooooooly _fuck_ this really isn’t Alrest.”

“Language,” Lora admonished, a clear edge to her tone.

“You spaced out there, Malos, are you okay?” Mikhail asked as Malos hopped from the roof.

“Had to digest a good chunk of info about this world in several hours, and can I just say that I think I preferred the simpler shit going on in Alrest? Where do I even start with like half the information I just got?”

Malos blinked, then groaned. “Oh, shit, how long was I scrolling through the UMN?”

“Several hours. I told Nigredo about...y’know. Us not being good people,” Mikhail admitted.

“It-It’s okay!” Nigredo quickly spoke up. “Really! If you guys want to be good people, I’m willing to give you the benefit of the doubt!”

Malos winced. “Kid, I’m sorry. I really never meant to hide anything like that. Thanks for at least being willing to give us a chance.”

“Mmhm. Can I...tell you some more about us?” Nigredo offered.

“As long as you feel comfortable with it, go ahead,” Malos prompted, taking a seat under the nearest tree. Nigredo sat next to him, and Patroka and Akhos hopped off the roof. Jin and Lora stayed put on the roof, though noticeably apart from each other.

“While our primary goal is to defeat U-DO, we’re also trying to help a girl named Sakura. She can’t really interact with the outside world like a regular person due to hypersensitivity to the UMN and interference from U-DO’s waves. We’ve been trying to remove those waves from her subconscious so she can interact with us like a regular person, but uh...the last time we attempted that with some of the standard units, they got infected and we had to beat them up. Albedo went too far, and almost killed one of them, and that led him to realize he was the only one who was immortal,” Nigredo explained.

Malos whistled lowly. “Is she still alive?”

“She is! Dad says we’re going to try again soon, and hopefully this time we’ll get it!” Nigredo said.

“I have faith in you, kiddo,” Malos said. “Anything else you want to get off your chest?”

Nigredo hesitated before leaning against Malos. “...I’m just...tired. We don’t know what comes after we stop U-DO. Rubedo said that we’re bioweapons, but I don’t _want_ to be a weapon for the rest of my life.”

Malos bit back any disparaging comments he so badly wanted to spout about how a kid shouldn’t be saying stuff like that, and instead wrapped an arm around him. “You won’t be. Look, once you and your brothers help this Sakura girl, why don’t you introduce me to them? Would be nice to meet them all.”

Nigredo raised an eyebrow. “All 668 of my older siblings?” he joked.

“Yeah, sure,” Malos responded, grinning. “Why not just meet the entire family while I’m at it!”

Nigredo started giggling. “Oh man, Rubedo and Albedo are gonna be so jealous! And then all the standard units—I can’t wait to see the looks on their faces!”

“Heh! Maybe I can pretend to be you from the future and scare your dad shitless! ‘Yuriev, I am Nigredo from the future, and I will haunt you unless you let me and my brothers go free!’” Malos said, and Nigredo laughed.

“I can hope, right?” he said, the laughter slowly dying down.

“Yeah,” Malos answered, ruffling his hair a little, “you can definitely hope.”


	6. death doesn't discriminate between the sinners and the saints

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it takes and it takes and it takes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heads up: this is the chapter where sakura dies, y'all. i'm gonna put up an intermission chapter next so the latest chapter i've written for anything isn't about a kid dying

A few days passed, with Akhos and Jin carefully mapping out the Facility based off the roof, Mikhail recording said map while balancing his own research on this world, and Patroka and Malos alternating keeping watch in the event someone who wasn’t Nigredo would enter the courtyard. And Lora…

Malos didn’t blame her. If he were in her shoes, he doubted he would be happy either. She was keeping her distance, only interacting with Mikhail when needed. Jin was trying to avoid her, not even sleeping close to her at night. And Malos didn’t exactly feel comfortable trying to rekindle any bonds with Jin given Lora would absolutely hate his guts for the rest of time.

So that was fun. Nigredo spent a little less time with them in preparation to remove U-DO’s waves from Sakura...however that went. That wasn’t exactly documented on the UMN, but Malos doubted it would be anyways, so.

“Kid, you need to breathe, first off,” Malos reminded, watching Nigredo pace in front of him and babble every worry that could possibly come to mind. “I’m getting tired just watching you pace like that.”

“I’m just so nervous, there’s a chance that we could mess something up, and Sakura might…!”

“Nigredo. Kid. You and your siblings have been trained for this, right?” Malos asked. When Nigredo nodded, Malos said, “You’ll be just fine. Just remember your training, and please remember to _breathe_ , kiddo.”

Nigredo slowly nodded. “I-I’ll try to.”

“I’m certain it’ll be quick,” Mikhail guessed, eyes glued to the comm’s screen. “Sounds like it to me, at least.”

“It’s set for tomorrow morning. Hopefully that’ll give me the day afterwards to hang out with you guys,” Nigredo said, finally stopping his pacing.

“Why not spend it with Sakura? Aren’t you two friends?” Lora asked, startling Malos enough to look up and see her joining Mikhail on the roof’s edge.

Nigredo shook his head. “No, she’s...closer with Rubedo, kinda,” he answered, clearly trying to choose his words right. “They really like each other...plus I think her mom would really want to be with her once she’s okay.”

“And her dad…?” Lora pressed.

“He’s...not really around that often,” Nigredo said. “I think he stopped by once, and that was all.”

Lora sighed. “Fathers, huh?” she said, weakly grinning. “Not good for a whole lot.”

Malos silently agreed while Nigredo cracked a nervous grin and giggled. “Your dad too?” he guessed.

“Didn’t really know my first dad. My second one, though?” Lora whistled. “He was a _real_ piece of work. How many dads try to kill you three times?”

“Three times?” Nigredo repeated, looking up at her with wide eyes.

“Yep. First time, Jin cut off his arm. Second time, the other arm. Third time…” Lora sucked in a breath. “...he was already dying. What we did was a bit short of a mercy kill.”

“Oh…” Nigredo murmured.

“Wait, was that when you were in Gormott?” Mikhail asked, looking up from the comm. “Since Jin mentioned some bandits attacking you then…”

“Yup. It was thanks to Jin I got out of that one alright, really,” Lora answered before frowning. “...Mikhail, did you ever see Haze again?”

Malos grimaced as Mikhail just about froze. “...you are not going to like what happened to her,” Mikhail said, quietly.

“Amalthus got to her,” Malos explained. “He removed half of her core crystal and implanted it in his head. And started calling her Fan la Norne for whatever reason.”

Lora stared at Malos, eyes wide, before she sat and gripped her arms tightly.

“Yeah. She’s gone now. She died and once Amalthus died...that was that,” Mikhail said, head bowed.

“...that isn’t fair. Haze…” Lora mumbled before punching the roof under her. “...if Amalthus _ever_ rears his head near me in this world, he won’t live to regret it.”

“Get in line. He’s going to have to answer to all of us if he ever shows up here,” Malos said.

Nigredo was still looking up at them, listening, until Malos coughed. “Alright, kid, go on back inside. Get yourself ready for tomorrow.”

Nigredo nodded and ducked back inside. Lora turned to Malos. “...Malos. What is going on with you?”

“Not used to me giving a shit?” Malos cracked.

“This isn’t you. Kind to kids, not going on a rampage when you’re bored, just…” Lora gestured to Malos. “What is this about?”

Malos’s cocky face was quickly replaced by a more stony one. “It’s nothing.”

“You’ve been here, what, a week now? You’re friends with a child, this building is still standing, and despite everything, the only fight you’ve gotten in was with me. You can’t possibly just mellow out from dying!” Lora pointed out. “It clearly isn’t nothing, because you seem to care about Nigredo!”

“And why do you care, exactly?” Malos questioned.

“Because, why do you care? Is it because he looks like you?” Lora pressed.

“Yes, but also...look, just…” Malos took a deep breath. “Mythra’s new Driver. He was younger than Addam. He was optimistic that we could have been friends.”

Malos leaned against the tree he sat by so often now. “His last words to me stuck, and now I can’t really get the whole ‘what if’ thing out of my head. What if Addam was my partner, what if I actually listened and stopped before I died, what if Amalthus hadn’t been the worst Driver to exist--stuff like that. And when I’m given a second chance despite my body count, and see a kid who has a number attached to him and a dad who doesn’t care…”

He trailed off. Patroka and Mikhail were quietly watching, and Lora was simply looking at him, face neutral.

“...and I have to admit, Jin helped as well. Granted, I think he was helping me just for the sake of killing Amalthus, but...he at least cared about something, and that’s more than I can say for past me,” Malos added. “He does a better job with Torna than I ever could.”

Lora’s expression didn’t change much, if at all, even as Malos finally got up and returned to the rooftop. “...that’s all I’ve got. Not hiding anything from Nigredo, not hiding anything here.”

“...don’t know how to respond, really. This doesn’t absolve you of what you’ve done, but…”

Lora sighed. “Could you at least let me process this? I need to talk with Jin about this, I’ve just been giving him the silent treatment lately…”

Malos shrugged. “Be my guest.”

\--

Nigredo’s heart wasn’t pounding as hard as it was yesterday as he followed Rubedo and Albedo to the dive room, though the sheer worry on Rubedo’s side of the mental link was almost enough to get him anxious again.

“Rubedo, it’ll be fine,” Nigredo spoke aloud. “As long as we focus, it’ll be done and over with and Sakura will be okay.”

“I know, I know, I just have a nagging feeling in my gut something’s going to go wrong, and we won’t be ready for it,” Rubedo admitted.

In hindsight, as Nigredo would later reflect, maybe they should have listened to that nagging feeling. Maybe they should have told Dad they were nervous as they entered the dive pods, the connection jack stinging for a brief moment before they were in Sakura’s subconscious domain again, though this time the world was covered in snow.

“Why is it so cold here?” Rubedo muttered, shivering. “I thought it was still summer the last time we visited!”

Nigredo murmured in agreement, looking around. Sakura’s ‘house’ was covered in snow, and there was no sign of her from a cursory glance--

A snowball hit Nigredo square in the chest, and he yelped. “Wh-What was that?!”

A giggle answered him, and he looked over to see Sakura peeking out of a snowbank, near-camouflaged with her white dress. “Hehe! Did I get you, Nigredo?

Nigredo let out a breath he didn’t realize he had been holding. “...I will admit that scared me,” he said, gripping an arm.

Rubedo snorted. “You yelped! Yeah, I’m pretty sure that scared you!”

Nigredo huffed loudly at Rubedo, folding his arms. Rubedo turned to Sakura. “Anyways, why is it so snowy and cold here?”

“I wanted to play in the snow, since it’s gonna be a while until I see snow again in the real world!” Sakura responded. “I can’t wait to see Mommy again…!”

Rubedo’s face noticeably softened. “It won’t be too long, alright? We’re going to make it quick!”

Sakura nodded. “Thank you! Hey, where did Albedo…”

Rubedo and Nigredo froze, and looked behind them to see Albedo had gone. He hadn’t spoken a word before they dove, Nigredo hadn’t even realized it until now.

“Oh, _crap,_ ” Rubedo muttered. “Albedo?! Albedo, where are you?”

Nigredo tried to reach over the link for Albedo, and found he had somehow closed himself off from the link. He grimaced. “He really doesn’t want us to find him…”

“That’s just great!” Rubedo hissed. The three clambered up a snowbank, hurriedly looking around.

“Let’s split up, he can’t have gotten too far!” Rubedo suggested before sliding down the snowbank, clearly not waiting for an answer. Nigredo sighed before sliding down as well, taking off in one direction.

The domain wasn’t very large, but given Albedo had white hair, the search was proving more difficult than it should have been at first glance. Nigredo didn’t get it, Albedo had to have still been in the simulator, Dad wouldn’t let him leave just like that, and even though Albedo was clearly jealous of Sakura…

He lost track of how long he had been searching, and he just knew Dad was probably looking on in disapproval. If they couldn’t find Albedo on short notice like this, they would probably be no better off during the actual operation--

Something finally stood out against the snow. It was a multi-colored sphere of...of _something_ that made Nigredo hesitant to even go near it. Was that--

That was Albedo approaching it, staggering like a member of the undead, a dull look in his eyes. Nigredo took off running toward him.

“Albedo, _don’t touch that!_ ” he shouted. He didn’t get close enough to Albedo before he reached out to the sphere, and Nigredo’s heart leaped into his throat. Before he could scream, someone intercepted him--Sakura.

There was a bright purple flash, and Nigredo stumbled to a halt and shielded his eyes. It felt like it lasted forever before he finally opened his eyes again, and saw Rubedo and Albedo standing before Sakura.

She wasn’t moving. Her eyes were dull, staring at nothing, she wasn’t breathing, not even the slightest twitch of a hand…

“S...Sakura? Sakura, no, no you can’t be…” Rubedo whimpered.

“R-Rubedo, I’m...I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it!” Albedo said, hands over his mouth.

The world started fading, turning as white as the snow around them, Rubedo and Albedo’s voices growing distant.

 **_WARNING:_ ** _connection with dive target lost_

 **_ERROR:_ ** _reconnection attempt failed_

 **_ERROR:_ ** _reconnection attempt failed_

**_ERROR: reconnection attempt failed_ **

The monotone voice made Nigredo clutch at his ears and screw his eyes shut.

 **_WARNING:_ ** _reconnection failures exceeded limit. Failsafe initiating._

 **_WARNING_ ** _: disconnecting from encephalon dive in 5_

“Sakura, wake up, _please!!_ ” Rubedo begged.

_4_

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry...” Albedo whimpered.

_3_

“What did you do?!” Rubedo shouted as he grabbed Albedo, tears forming in his eyes.

_2_

Albedo just continued to repeat his mantra, frozen to the spot.

_1_

The last image Nigredo had of Sakura was her lying on her side, eyes staring at nothing, her body as still as stone.

_Disconnecting from encephalon dive_

It felt like Nigredo was being pulled out of ice-cold water as his eyes snapped open, the capsule returning to the upright position. The capsule opened to let him out, but he didn’t move right away as he heard shouting and crying.

“Oh, god, is she…”

“How could this happen?”

“She’s not--Dr. Mizrahi, I…”

Nigredo broke into a run, leaving the lab and not stopping until he reached his room. No one came after him, and that was fine. That was fine. That was fine. _That was_ \--

Sakura was dead. They failed her. They had gotten her killed, they failed, they failed, _they failed._ All they did was for nothing. If they couldn’t save one girl, what hope did they have when it came to facing U-DO for real?

Alone in his room, Nigredo stared at the wall.


	7. Intermission: Letter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> From: Rex  
> To: Malos

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was intended to be an intermission of sorts because I got sad writing chapter 6 and needed to write something mildly less upsetting. And then this chapter turned out sad anyways. Oops.
> 
> Anyways! Rex and any other xb2 characters not currently in the world of Saga are gonna stay untagged for the sake of not clogging up the AO3 page for them. Since they are super minor characters.

Hey, Malos!

It’s been a while! A ton’s happened since you’ve been gone. Mor Ardain and Uraya are finally discussing peace with one another now, since now we don’t have to worry about titans dying! It’s been a huge weight off Mòrag and Niall’s shoulders!

Nia’s been doing fine, though she’s been spending more time in Gormott lately. I think she really missed being back in her homeland, y’know? Especially since she isn’t a wanted criminal anymore. Zeke and Pandoria are dealing with business stuff in Tantal, Tora and Poppi are off doing their own thing with Tora’s dad and Lila, and Pyra and Mythra…

They miss you, I think. Mythra mentioned having another sibling named Ontos who vanished, and she’s gone a lot. I think she’s trying to find your core crystal. Pyra believes that you’re probably dead, and she’s spending time by herself. I don’t really wanna bother either of them right now.

~~ There’s some new graves near home in Leftheria. I think they made them for you, Torna, and the Architect ~~

I don’t expect a response any time soon, but if you’re out there, hurry back, alright? We still need to have a good drink together!

-Rex

P.S. Gramps said if you don’t hurry back he’s gonna take your title of Aegis away. I don’t know if he can actually do that though.


	8. and we keep living anyways

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> we rise and we fall and we break and we make our mistakes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cw: yuriev grabs nigredo and is kind of a dick, if you don't want to read that, skip "“Nigredo, it's time to get up." to "Dr. Yuriev!"

Night fell, and Nigredo hadn’t come out today. The Facility’s grounds were quiet as could be, and Malos found himself pacing around the roof.

“Malos, it sounded like a simple search-and-destroy mission, I’m pretty sure Nigredo and his siblings are probably just celebrating its success,” Akhos said.

“I know, but Yuriev doesn’t sound like the type to let his kids celebrate. We should’ve seen the kid by now…”

Malos sat down roughly. “What I’d give for eyes and ears inside this stupid building right now.”

“We have a good layout of the exterior so far. If we can find an entrance close enough to wherever Yuriev keeps his information, and figure out a way of slipping in and out without risking trouble, then we’ll have the same script he does,” Akhos said.

“Works for me. Who do you think should go in when--”

Malos halted mid-sentence as he heard doors open. Not the ones leading to the courtyard, he realized, the sound was directly opposite of the courtyard.

“...we offer our fullest condolences and services, Dr. Mizrahi,” a hoarse, older voice was saying, and those words alone did not help Malos’s worries in the slightest. “I am deeply sorry for what has happened today.”

Malos peered over the opposite edge of the roof to see an older man with ashy blonde hair walking beside a woman with short brown hair. The man had a stoic look on his face, while the woman was looking onward, dead-eyed and quiet.

“How?” she said, so quietly Malos wasn’t sure he heard it at first. “How could this have happened…?”

“I wish I had an answer,” the man said, “but unfortunately, any attempts to learn from Unit 667 as to what happened have yielded nothing thus far. We will keep you updated as we learn more.”

Dr. Mizrahi didn’t respond, her eyes fixed on the ground, and Akhos nudged Malos. “Do you think that man is Yuriev?” he whispered.

“Probably,” Malos whispered back.

“Dr. Mizrahi?” the man--Yuriev?--prompted.

“...Dr. Yuriev, what about the other two that were in there as well? Rubedo and Nigredo?” Dr. Mizrahi questioned. “Why didn’t they…”

“Oh,  _ shit, _ ” Malos muttered, Akhos stifling a gasp.

Yuriev sighed. “I do not know what they were thinking. As much as I wish we had answers here and now, I realize we likely would not get anything until all three of them have calmed down.”

Dr. Mizrahi only nodded in response, and Malos couldn’t help but wonder. If this was about what he thought it was, why was she so...calm, for lack of a better word? She wasn’t really making eye contact with Yuriev, her tone was low and quiet, if someone just died and was related to her, why wasn’t she showing more emotion than that?

“Dr. Mizrahi!” a third voice called, and a black man wearing a military uniform of some kind jogged up to them. “I’m so sorry about Sakura…”

“Helmer, with all due respect, why are you still here?” Yuriev questioned. “I recognize what happened today was...unintended, but--”

Helmer shook his head. “Are those three alright? No kid should have to witness someone dying in front of them like that…”

“They’ll be fine after a day or two,” Yuriev responded, and there was something about that response that made Malos side-eye him warily.

Helmer clearly didn’t believe it either. “Three kids who just watched one of their friends die in front of them will recover in a few days? Yuriev, I have my doubts about that.”

“You and me both,” Malos said, quietly.

“They’ll be fine,” Yuriev repeated, and Dr. Mizrahi and Helmer exchanged wary looks. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must be going.”

Yuriev walked back into the building, and Dr. Mizrahi took a deep breath. “I’m pretty sure those three are not going to be okay.”

“I’m getting the same feeling, honestly,” Helmer agreed. “I wish there was more we could do.”

Malos and Akhos exchanged looks. “Shall we alert them of our presence?” Akhos offered.

“Why not.” Malos stood up and whistled. “Hey, you looking to help those kids too?”

Helmer and Dr. Mizrahi jolted and looked up, eyes wide. “What the…”

“Nice to meet you two. Name’s Malos, and we seem to have a common goal in mind,” Malos greeted. “Assuming you both want to get those kids out of there.”

“Who are you with? U-TIC, the Federation, or…” Dr. Mizrahi began.

“None of those groups. My pals and I are our own side, more or less,” Malos clarified. “To make a long story short, we wound up here, befriended one of the kids, and now we want to get them out of here and as far away from Yuriev as possible.”

“...well, I can safely say I’ve never seen him before,” Helmer said. “Malos, pardon my distrust, but why do you want to help these kids? You claim you and your allies are your own side, but how do we know you’re telling the truth?”

“A fair point,” Malos admitted, shrugging. “What can I do to convince you that my friends and I mean no harm?”

“Who exactly did you befriend?” Helmer asked.

“A kid named Nigredo. He said his unit number was 669, he has black hair kind of like mine, isn’t entirely dead inside like--”

Helmer held up a hand. “I’m familiar with Nigredo. That’s enough for me to believe you for now.”

“Works for me! Look, can you spare any information about the interior of the place?” Malos asked. “At the very least, any idea where Yuriev keeps his files or the easiest places to sneak in?”

“You might be asking a bit much of me,” Helmer responded with a sigh. “I haven’t been there enough to memorize the layout.”

Malos’s eyes flickered to Dr. Mizrahi. “I don’t suppose you’d know anything?”

Dr. Mizrahi gazed coldly back at Malos, and he realized a bit too late that maybe that wasn’t his brightest move to make. Helmer coughed a few times before clearing his throat.

“Are there any among your group who could reasonably pass as someone from the Federation? I have another visit planned, and could claim one of your team as an aide.”

“Mikhail,” Malos said almost automatically. “He’s the best of us with machines and could pass as an idiot if he has to. I know how that sounds, but I get the feeling he’s going to have to lie his ass off around Yuriev.”

As if on cue, Mikhail raised his head and blinked sleepily. “Someone say my name?”

“You’re going to perform some reconnaissance, Mik,” Malos called. In response, Mikhail just groaned.

“Make Akhos do it, I wanna sleep,” he whined.

“I’m in a supporting role already,” Akhos responded, “and your skills are needed more for this performance than mine.”

Mikhail groaned louder than before, which prompted Malos to roll his eyes. “When is this visit, tomorrow?”

“Unless plans change, yes,” Helmer confirmed.

“We’ll be ready by the time you get here,” Malos declared.

“Alright, then,” Helmer said, and Malos’s gaze moved to Dr. Mizrahi. Her expression hadn’t changed much, if at all, and Malos didn’t know what to say.

“...hey, uh. If it helps any, my pals and I are gonna find a way to stop and maybe kill U-DO,” he said, prompting Helmer and Dr. Mizrahi to look at him with confused expressions. “I know, random stranger you just met saying he’s gonna kill the thing that played a part in your kid’s death, but…”

Dr. Mizrahi shook her head, making a noise somewhere between pain and anger. “...if the URTVs couldn’t destroy the waves infecting her, how could you kill it?”

“I’ve got a good trump card up my sleeve,” Malos responded. “Trust me, I’ve survived a lot worse than what U-DO could throw at me.”

“...I have my doubts,” Dr. Mizrahi responded, tone icy, before walking away as she gripped her arms tightly.

“Could’ve gone worse,” Malos said. Helmer sighed as if in response.

“If nothing else, you have guts. I need to return to my hotel for the evening,” he said. “I’ll see you and your team tomorrow morning.”

Malos nodded and watched him leave before returning to the roof himself.

—

Nigredo wasn’t sure if he ever fell asleep that night, but at some point, the alarm clock went off and he sat up in bed. Yesterday’s catastrophe played over and over again in his head, how he wasn’t in time to stop Albedo, how Rubedo shouted at Albedo, how he didn’t keep an eye on Albedo—

He hit snooze on his alarm clock, staring at the wall ahead of him. No one had come for him in the night for one reason or another, and that should have been some relief, but all he felt was a hollow pit where his stomach was and a horrible numbness in his heart. Nigredo couldn’t—didn’t?—muster the strength to move from his bed, and he sat there for some length of time before Yuriev came into his room.

“Nigredo, it's time to get up. You are not spending the day on that bed.”

Nigredo grunted in response and stayed where he was. Yuriev folded his arms. “Nigredo, get up. The world hasn’t ended, you are not spending a day in bed like this.”

“...Sakura, she’s…” Nigredo said, quietly. Yuriev groaned and stood in front of him, a stern look in his face.

“Nigredo, get out of bed right now!”

To Yuriev’s surprise, Nigredo shook his head. “...no. I...I don’t want to. I don’t want to…”

Yuriev grabbed Nigredo’s arm tightly. “This is not up for debate. I will drag you out of bed if I have to,” he warned, voice low and angry.

“N-No!” Nigredo shouted. “No, just leave me alone! I don’t want to—“

Yuriev yanked him out of bed and started dragging him out of the room and down the hall. Nigredo whimpered as he struggled to keep up with Yuriev’s brisk pace, arm hurting from where Yuriev grabbed him.

“Emotions were a mistake with the Variants,” Yuriev said, just barely loud enough that Nigredo could hear. “I should have just left them without feelings if this is what I have to—“

“Dr. Yuriev!”

At the sound of a somewhat familiar voice, Yuriev immediately let go of Nigredo as if on command. Nigredo vaguely remembered the man approaching Yuriev, his name was...Helmer, if he remembered right? There was another tailing him—

Nigredo’s heart froze when he saw it was Mikhail, now dressed in the same clothing Helmer was.

“Helmer. I apologize, I didn’t realize you were visiting today as well,” Yuriev said, folding his arms behind his back.

“My apologies, Dr. Yuriev, I know the timing isn’t the best,” Helmer apologized. “The dates were already set in stone, I’m afraid.”

He peered over at Nigredo. “Oh! One of the variants, right? Hello there!”

Nigredo nodded shakily. “Y-Yes. URTV unit 669, Nigredo,” he responded.

“Nice to meet you! Oh, and let me introduce you both to my aide with me today.” Helmer turned to Mikhail. “If you don’t mind.”

Mikhail stepped forward and saluted. “My name is Mikhail! Sorry I wasn’t here yesterday, sir, I was under orders to stay at the hotel!”

Yuriev looked long and hard at Mikhail for a moment before turning to Helmer. “I don’t recall you mentioning an aide.”

“It didn’t seem important at the time, compared to everything else that was going on,” Helmer said. “I didn’t know how to bring him up without it seeming out of place.”

“...fair enough,” Yuriev said, a frown on his face. “Now then, if you’ll follow me, we need to discuss the plans for next month.”

He turned to Nigredo. “Run along now,” he said, and Nigredo started forward as Yuriev, Helmer, and Mikhail walked past. Mikhail stopped for a moment to grip Nigredo’s shoulder.

“Hey, I know how this looks, but just trust me, alright?” he said, quietly.

Nigredo could only nod as Mikhail followed after Yuriev and Helmer.


	9. i'm the expert, i'm the one, the one who was right all along

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> better to be laughed at than wrong

Mikhail followed Yuriev and Helmer quietly, trying to multitask between memorizing the twists and turns of the facility and listening to their conversation. Helmer was clearly ticked.

“Yuriev, with all due respect, we really should refrain from moving the descent operation up,” he said, trying to keep his voice even. “Especially with regards to that those three saw someone die in front of them.”

“The Variants will be fine,” Yuriev responded. “I cannot afford to coddle Rubedo or Albedo at this point.”

“And Nigredo?” Helmer pressed as Mikhail scowled at Yuriev from behind.

Yuriev folded his hands behind his back. “...he will be fine as well. Rubedo and Albedo are more emotional than him.”

Mikhail took note of that pause, while Helmer shook his head. “Yuriev, wasn’t he the first to run out of the room yesterday?”

Something akin to ice gripped Mikhail’s heart when he heard that, and he forced himself to keep calm and keep walking. Yuriev’s shoulders twitched, just noticeable enough Mikhail filed that away too.

“He was fine this morning. He just needed time,” Yuriev responded.

Mikhail eyed Yuriev carefully. He didn’t see the whole scene behind Helmer, but Yuriev had been dragging Nigredo behind him, hadn’t he? The moment was not helping Mikhail’s opinion of the man any, and the image of a man, uncaring and grim, dragging a kid who barely knew what was going on, well…

Mikhail found himself gripping his fans as he summoned them subconsciously, and quickly dismissed them before anyone could see. Helmer sighed, shoulders slacking.

“I will relay the information to my superiors, if nothing else. They’ll at least be away from the frontline, correct?”

“Unless the situation calls for them to be on the frontlines, yes,” Yuriev answered.

“...they’re children, Yuriev. I doubt U-TIC would hesitate on shooting kids if they posed a threat,” Helmer bluntly pointed out.

“U-TIC doesn’t hesitate to kill in general,” Yuriev said in turn. “I don’t know why you’re objecting to this now, Helmer.”

“I was under the impression that the URTVs were adults before yesterday, Yuriev,” Helmer said, folding his arms.

Yuriev made a noise that could have easily been a scoff before glancing over his shoulder. “You’ve been awfully quiet.”

Mikhail shrugged. “I didn’t want to interrupt, sir.”

Ugh. He needed to get this over with so he could drown his mouth in soap. Yuriev didn’t even warrant a ‘sir’ in his books…

“Hm. I would like to hear your take on this, if you wouldn’t mind,” Yuriev requested.

“Nothing you haven’t heard from my superior already,” Mikhail said. “I hope we can stop U-TIC, but...we’re talking about child soldiers, right? I don’t feel comfortable with that…”

Yuriev scowled, and Helmer quickly cleared his throat. “I understand it’s a necessary evil, especially this close to the descent operation, but it’s still not a pleasant concept for either of us.”

Mikhail quickly nodded in agreement, and Yuriev sighed. “I suppose I shouldn’t expect all of the Federation to be onboard. Come, we should discuss this in my office.”

Mikhail grinned once Yuriev was turned away from him.  _ Jackpot. _

—

Nigredo cautiously stepped out into the courtyard, trying to ignore his arm aching in pain as he looked around.

“Malos…?”

A low whistle responded, and Malos landed in front of him. The expression on his face read worry—had he heard the news?

“Holy crap, kid, are you okay?” Malos asked.

Nigredo shook his head, staring at the ground. “...we failed.”

Malos winced. “Do you, uh...wanna talk about it?”

Nigredo shook his head again, and Malos sat down. “Alright. Do you want to talk about anything?”

“...don’t know,” Nigredo mumbled. “...dad didn’t...like that I was upset…”

Malos cursed under his breath, and slowly reached out a hand toward Nigredo’s shoulder. Despite that he knew Malos wouldn’t grab him like Yuriev did, Nigredo still flinched away, eyes wide. Malos instantly drew back his hand.

“Okay. No touching, got it.”

Nigredo sat before Malos, and neither of them spoke for what felt like an hour before someone sighed.

“You could at least try to comfort the boy!” Lora said as she leapt down from the roof and knelt before Nigredo. “Is there anything we can do to help? Even if it’s just lending an ear?”

“I...I don’t know.” The words sounded so  _ weak, _ but Nigredo didn’t know what he could say right now.

“If it helps, I know how you feel. I know you must be hurting, and I wish there was something I could say that could make you feel better instantly, but…”

Lora took a deep breath. “Know that we’re here. You aren’t weak for grieving, especially if that person was close to you. With us, you can cry if you need to.”

Nigredo’s vision blurred with tears, and he haphazardly wiped them away at first, until he gave up and let out a loud sob.

“I feel like I could have done something! She was right in front of me!” he cried.

“I know. I know how that feels,” Lora said, voice quiet. “Let it out, we won’t judge you.”

Her eyes flickered briefly to Malos, as if to say ‘Right?’ before she noticed the deep frown on Malos’s face. “...Malos?”

“...shit,” Malos mumbled, just loud enough for Lora to hear and subsequently elbow him.

“Stop swearing in front of children!” she scolded.

Nigredo hesitantly stepped forward, and Lora held her arms out. “If you need a hug, I’m always happy to oblige,” she said.

Nigredo took another few steps forward before hugging Lora, finally starting to cry in earnest. Lora hummed quietly, letting him sob into her shoulder.

“There, there, Nigredo. We’re here,” she murmured, Malos quietly looking on at them with an unreadable expression.

—

It was late in the day, after Nigredo had gone back inside, that Mikhail and Helmer finally left the Facility. Yuriev didn’t seem to be in sight, from what Malos could see.

“I owe you one,” Mikhail said to Helmer, letting out a sigh once they were far enough away from the front door. “If there’s anything I can do to help you out…”

“Take care of those kids,” Helmer responded. “With the descent operation soon, I won’t be able to see them as often. At the very least, if there was a time to get them away from Yuriev…”

Mikhail nodded, then turned to the rooftop with a triumphant grin as Helmer walked away. “I struck gold, Malos!”

“Hurry up here, then!” Malos ordered, and Mikhail climbed onto the roof. Malos whistled sharply, and the rest of their little hodgepodge group quickly gathered around as Mikhail took out his comm device.

“The easy part was pretending to run to the bathroom and doubling back once they left the office.” Mikhail pulled a face. “The hard part was pretending to kiss Yuriev’s ass. And finding some of the files, really.”

“Let me take a look,” Malos prompted. The sooner he could learn Yuriev’s moves, the better. Mikhail handed the comm over, and Malos immediately pulled up the files, and scrolled.

“Mikhail, I don’t know if I should be proud you got all that so quickly or not,” Lora said.

“In my defense, Yuriev left those files in plain sight,” Mikhail explained. “Most of them, at least. Some were kinda tucked away.”

Malos’s face paled, eyes widening. “...no, what...what the fuck?”

“Huh? Malos?” Akhos peered over his shoulder. “What did you— _ oh. _ ”

Patroka, Mikhail, Jin, and Lora crowded around behind Malos, and the air grew tense as could be. Malos felt any words he wanted to say die in his throat as he read and reread the entry in front of him.

> [I have to play my cards right. The second descent operation was a failure--I’ve heard someone was taken prisoner by U-TIC, and that had to have been a blow to morale. Helmer is due back tomorrow, I’ll talk about moving the third descent operation’s date up with him. I doubt the Federation will say no to this after what happened there.
> 
> The sooner we can get this done, the better, really. I’ve no inclination to keep the URTVs around for longer than they need to be. All 667 units will report to Miltia, and once they attempt to destroy U-DO...they’ll cause Miltia’s destruction. And that will be that.]

“They’re supposed to die. All of them,” Jin said aloud, eyes widening slightly.

“Something’s not right,” Akhos pointed out. “In this entry, it says ‘all 667 units’, but...Nigredo is 669, correct? What about him and whoever 668 is?”

“There’s more,” Malos said, scrolling further.

> [Units 668 and 669 will remain here. This body isn’t failing yet, but I don’t know if I should wait much longer. I’ve been trying to glean who those people are that 669 has been talking to in the courtyard as of late--is that man an older him? What do they want?
> 
> It’s clear they want something with 669. I can’t risk them taking away my vessel. I could transfer to the vessel sooner rather than later, but I’m still needed right now. Even if the Salvators knew it was me, the Federation wouldn’t take a child seriously.
> 
> 668 will have to work as a backup vessel in the event that I can’t use 669. I can’t let this slip by me. How soon can we move up the operation?]

“What  _ the _ fuck,” Mikhail said, clasping a hand over his mouth in horror. “This guy wants to use Nigredo as a back-up body?!”

Malos gripped the device tightly, teeth gritted. This man was no better than Amalthus, and he didn’t even have an Aegis, as far as they all knew. Nigredo was going to be reduced to a puppet, and his siblings—

Malos shoved the device into Akhos’s hands. “I need to find the kid.”

“What are you going to do?” Lora questioned, looking up at him.

“He needs a Blade. It might as well be me,” Malos declared.

Akhos, Patroka, Mikhail, Jin, and Lora looked at him with wide eyes. “ _ What?! _ ”

“This kid’s life is on the line here, Yuriev—god,  _ fuck _ Yuriev, what kind of parent...?!”

Malos found himself summoning his Monado and gripping it as tight as he could. “I’m going to make sure Nigredo is safe. Stay put,  _ all _ of you.”

“Can you not wait until tomorrow morning for him? If you go in now, you might cause a scene, and Yuriev might pull something tonight if he knows you’re storming the place!” Lora pointed out.

“This deployment is soon from the sounds of it, and we don’t know when Yuriev is going to snatch Nigredo’s body, it might be too late by tomorrow!” Malos argued.

“Malos, you might be walking into a trap,” Akhos reminded. “Yuriev knows we’re here. He’s seen you, and possibly the rest of us. Even if this is what he truly thinks and isn’t trying to bait us into attacking, we don’t have a way off this planet, never mind who he’s possibly allied with that will attack us in turn! We don’t have the resources we did back in Alrest!”

Malos hesitated at that, grip loosening slightly on his Monado, before he looked away with bared teeth. “...then I’ll just burn it all down like I tried to do with Alrest. To hell with the consequences.”

“You will do no such thing,” Jin said, and Malos looked up to see Jin glaring at Malos with icy eyes. Beside him, Lora’s expression matched his, Blade and Driver matched in anger. “I have been willing to stand by and watch to see if you have changed, and I will give credit where it’s due, but Amalthus is dead, and Lora is alive.”

Lora lashed her whip toward Malos. “If you attempt to destroy this world like you did with Alrest, make no mistake: we will cut you down where you stand,” she warned.

Malos’s grip loosened further on his Monado, until it dissipated into ether. He closed his eyes and sighed, eventually saying, “Fine. I’ll wait until tomorrow to talk to Nigredo.”

“Good. Now come on, we need to figure out how we’re going to get Nigredo and the others off this planet,” Akhos prompted.

\--

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the galaxy, a compass begins to spin of its own volition.

And its owner watches with curiosity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "no cost too great," huh, yuriev?


	10. i'm ready, i'm ready, i'm ready

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ready as i'll ever be

Malos wasn’t completely certain he slept that night. He knew he lied on his back on the rooftop, staring up at a night sky painted with stars he didn’t have names for, and at some point inky black gave way to pink and orange, but he wasn’t sure that he even closed his eyes during the night. His databanks kept pulling up Yuriev referring to Nigredo by his number and as a ‘vessel’ and never by his real name, and it made him want to rip Nigredo away from Yuriev’s clutches, but…

He sat up, staring down at the courtyard. He wasn’t the type to try to appeal to a higher power, dear old dad especially, but damn if it didn’t seem tempting to beg to some higher power that Nigredo would still be himself when he got outside today.

Jin and Lora had taken turns on watch, and it was currently Lora’s turn from the looks of it. She had her whip in her hands, crouched like she was ready to leap and attack. And for all Malos knew, that moment could be soon.

When Malos stood up, the clinking of his armor was enough to make Lora glance over her shoulder at him, amber eyes boring holes into him.

“...good morning,” Malos said, flatly.

Lora didn’t respond, continuing to look at Malos for what felt like forever until she stood up tall to face him. “Where was this righteous anger for Torna? For the lives you stole?”

“Starting with that, huh?” Had Malos been any less shaken after yesterday, maybe it would have sounded a little more annoyed than it did right now. He sighed, shoulders dropping. “...I don’t have an answer for that.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Lora muttered before raising her voice. “I’m not opposed to helping Nigredo. But I’m angry that this change of heart happened not in our world, where you  _ sank _ my home, but far away in another time and place entirely after we were all supposed to have been dead!”

She lashed her whip, and Malos tensed, bracing for any possible blows. “It isn’t fair! We did everything we could, and Hugo dies, Haze is stolen and used to hurt others, you drag Mikhail and Jin into your mess and Architect knows what happened after  _ that, _ and Torna…!”

Lora’s face was red, tears falling from her cheeks. Malos didn’t know what to say--he wasn’t wholly responsible for Torna’s sinking, but he instigated the attack in the first place. Mythra did more damage in the end, he’d argue, but…

“...an apology won’t really help,” Malos guessed.

“Damn right it won’t,” Lora spat. “The moment I can leave you, Jin and I are gone.”

“I won’t argue with that,” Malos replied, folding his arms. “Look, I know I’m not ever going to be forgiven, I know I can’t take anything back, but remember—“

He tapped the plate hiding his core crystal. “—Amalthus woke me up first. Blades are usually defined by who woke them up first and are influenced by later Drivers. You saw how Minoth was after he escaped Amalthus, yeah?”

Lora nodded. “How could I forget?”

“He was a piece of shit who influenced us both. All that time, back on Alrest, his voice was screaming in my head, and it was calling for everything and everyone to  _ die. _ And it was enough to make me want to destroy everything too.”

Malos sighed. “Here and now, it’s gone. And I have Patroka, Akhos, and Mikhail to keep me on track. And, for now at least, Jin. He’s a better influence on me than I think he’d admit. And here and now, I want to do better, even if it’s just for Nigredo’s sake. I know it won’t make up for even half the shit I pulled, but at least let me keep the kid safe.”

Lora was quiet as Malos spoke, wiping away the tears on her face. Eventually, she said, “Alright. I’ll work with that for now. But so help me, if you corrupt him into being like you--”

“I  _ won’t! _ ” Malos snapped. “I know you don’t trust me, and fine, whatever, but I care about that kid! And I don’t want him to be like me!”

It took him a second to realize a few violet embers had started to form around him, and he dispelled them as quickly as he could. “Ah, crap.”

“So uh. Are you guys done yet?” Mikhail asked, and Malos looked behind to see Mikhail, Patroka, Akhos, and Jin sitting up from where they were lying down, the four of them staring at Malos and Lora.

“We...should be,” Malos replied. “How long were you guys listening to that?”

“The whole thing,” Patroka said.

“Including you loudly saying you care about Nigredo,” Akhos added.

Malos huffed, looking away from Akhos. “I didn’t say it that loudly.”

“You did,” Mikhail responded, a grin slowly growing on his face. “You so did.”

“Shut it,” Malos growled.

\--

When Nigredo went outside that day, Citrine was standing by the tree, waiting for him.

“You’re just like us,” Citrine said.

“‘Us’?”

“Code name: Red Dragon. A useful, yet dangerous creature with the potential to lose control.”

Her eyes seemed to bore into Nigredo’s. “Don’t you think it’s strange? How you’ve never reacted to the U-DO simulator?”

Unease trickled down Nigredo’s spine like ice water, and Citrine stepped toward him. “You and the others have been slacking lately. Don’t think it hasn’t gone unnoticed.”

“Sakura died in front of Rubedo, Albedo and I!” Nigredo argued. “How are we supposed to stay calm about that?!”

“We’re going to see far more deaths during the descent operation, if one death is enough to make the three of you cry, I’m not looking forward to the mission itself,” Citrine responded, crossing her arms.

“We knew her! We were friends with her!” Nigredo retorted. “That’s different!”

Citrine groaned in frustration. “Why do you care so much for one girl? We’re going to save more than her if this operation goes well!”

Nigredo felt anger boiling inside him, enough to make him spit fire, but he forced it back. “I don’t expect you to understand, since all you ever do is boss us around!”

“That’s my job! I’m supposed to be the leader in the event Rubedo can’t be a leader!” Citrine said, raising her voice. “Ugh, this is a pointless conversation!”

“Then just go away!” Nigredo shouted, louder than intended. “I don’t want you bothering me right now!”

“No! I’m not done here!” Citrine said, then pointed past Nigredo’s head. Nigredo’s anger was instantly replaced by fear, his face going pale as he heard Malos curse.

“You know you aren’t hiding them very well, yes? Yuriev knows.”

Nigredo knew he should have seen that coming, but something about that statement still felt like a punch to the gut.

“What did you expect? There are security cameras all over the facility, did you really think you’d be able to keep it a secret forever?” Citrine questioned.

Nigredo opened his mouth, but no words came out. His heart thudded painfully in his chest as Malos took that moment to land beside him, Patroka not far behind.

“Okay, what do you want with us?” Malos questioned.

“I want to know what you’re doing with Nigredo. And why you’re here,” Citrine responded, staring up at Malos with fire in her eyes.

“We aren’t doing anything, and we don’t know why we wound up here of all places,” Malos answered.

“You’ve been talking with him. I gather you want something from him, if not the rest of us,” Citrine noted.

“We don’t want anything. Look,” Patroka said, stepping forward, “we just want to help you kids out. Yuriev isn’t a good caretaker, and we want to get who we can out of here.”

Citrine gritted her teeth. “Yuriev takes care of us! I don’t expect people like you to understand that he’s doing what he can for us! Give me one reason I shouldn’t go to him right now to make sure you can never step foot in this facility ever again!”

“Citrine, please don’t!” Nigredo pleaded. “Please, they aren’t that bad!”

“What makes you say that?” Citrine questioned, glare switching to Nigredo.

“They come from another world, don’t you want to know more about that?” Nigredo suggested, and that was enough to make Citrine pause.

“...another world?”

Nigredo nodded. “Y-Yeah! They come from this place called Alrest, they used to live on these titans, it’s really cool!”

“Buuuuut if you’d rather we leave and, you know, take all that information with us and leave…” Malos began, and Patroka elbowed him.

“Don’t tempt her.”

Citrine closed her eyes, as if in thought, before huffing. “...fine, I won’t tell Yuriev. For now. But I want to learn all you can provide about this Alrest.”

“Sure. Hell, there’s something related to that I was going to talk with Nigredo about today,” Malos said. “Kiddo, you remember when we talked about Blades, yeah?”

Nigredo nodded, and Patroka turned to Citrine. “Blades are beings that are summoned by core crystals in our world. They can be just about anything, from talking animals to barely distinguishable from your average person.”

“I uh. I’m sorry, I haven’t been as up front with you as I should have, Nigredo,” Malos said, taking off the plate on his chest, and Nigredo’s eyes went wide. There, in the center of his chest, was a purple crystal in the shape of a cross, an almost unearthly gleam about it.

“Whoa…is that…?”

“A core crystal,” Malos finished, nodding. “I am a Blade, though not an ordinary one--I am a legendary Blade, known as an Aegis. One of two of them, anyways.”

Nigredo stared in awe at the core crystal before something clicked. “Where’s the person who woke you up?”

Malos winced. “...he’s dead. Long dead, because he hurt and killed people. And it...influenced me, unfortunately.”

He sat in front of Nigredo. “An Aegis is different in that once they’re awake, they can choose who their Driver--their partner--is. And my old one, Amalthus, was a terrible Driver and a terrible person in general. Jin acted as my Driver for a while, but he has Lora again and doesn’t need me anymore. So that leads me to my question.”

Malos’s eyes met Nigredo’s. “Can I ask you to become my Driver?”

More than anything in the world, Nigredo wanted to say yes, he would gladly become Malos’s Driver, but--

“Why me?” he found himself asking. “Why me and not anyone else?”

“Because it seems like you need help. You’re too young to be going through all this without any kind of support, especially if Yuriev won’t even let you grieve in peace.”

Malos looked to Citrine, who very quickly pretended she hadn’t been looking at his core crystal like Nigredo had. “Are there any therapists around here? Anyone you kids can talk to at all?”

“...no. We don’t have anything like that,” Citrine responded, almost quietly. Almost, Malos noted.

“Yeah, that’s what I figured. You don’t have to say yes,” Malos said to Nigredo, returning his gaze to him. “If you don’t want to, that’s perfectly fine. I will not force you into this, now or ever. Just know the option is--”

“I’ll do it!”

Malos stumbled to a halt mid-sentence, blinking. Patroka couldn’t help but chuckle. “Congrats, kiddo, you just shocked the Aegis into shutting up.”

“I-I know I should probably give this more thought, but I don’t want to hesitate! I want to choose my own future!” Nigredo said, trying to stand a little taller. “Please...let me be your Driver!”

Malos smiled--not a sarcastic smile or anything like that, a genuine smile. “Alright then, Nigredo. From this moment forward--”

He held out a hand, and Nigredo met it with his own. “--we’re Driver and Blade.”

Citrine made a noise, then walked past Nigredo and Malos. “...I’m going back inside. I’m not going to tell Yuriev, but I’m going to hold you all to that promise.”

“Got it,” Patroka responded, and Citrine was gone.

“So what happens now?” Nigredo asked Malos, trying to keep from bouncing on his feet.

“Well, I’ve gotta train you to use my weapon,” Malos said, standing up and letting go of Nigredo’s hand. He held out his other hand and summoned a black sword edged with gold, the design forming a circular shape close to the hilt. “This is my weapon, the Monado. There’s a  _ lot _ to it that I can’t go too far into detail about just yet, so for now we’re just going to make sure you can actually use it as a sword. Which means I’m gonna have to start training you.”

Malos’s smile faltered at that. “...shit, are you even going to have time for that?”

“I’ll make time!” Nigredo declared. “I’ll find a way!”

“I’ve gotta warn you, you’re gonna be sore after training. Think you’ll be okay?” Malos asked. When Nigredo nodded, almost stubbornly, he chuckled. “Alright, then let’s get started.”

\--

And that became Nigredo’s schedule in the weeks leading up to the third descent operation. Wake up, eat, do whatever URTV training stuff Yuriev wanted him to do, meet with Citrine and visit Torna, train with Malos, and sleep. The first days were the easiest, with Malos teaching Nigredo about his stance, how to swing a blade, the ether link that connected a Blade and Driver in the midst of battle, posture…

And then combat training began. Patroka had revealed two wooden swords on her person (“I collected plenty of weapons back on Alrest, glad they still have a use here.”) for them to use so neither Malos or Nigredo would hurt each other using Malos’s Monado when they fought. Malos was a good teacher, Nigredo gave him that, but it was clear he was looking forward to actual combat training once Nigredo was capable.

The first nights after they started practice fighting left Nigredo exhausted, collapsing and falling right asleep the moment he reached his bed, and sore and stiff the following day. Lora quickly intervened once it was clear Nigredo wasn’t able to keep up one day.

“You’re going to have to alternate between combat practice and lighter training if you don’t take it easier on him,” she said one day. Patroka and Akhos were teaching Citrine about Alrest not too far away, while Mikhail and Jin watched Malos, Nigredo, and Lora. “Nigredo is still a child, Malos.”

“I’m okay!” Nigredo insisted, but Malos shook his head.

“Sorry, kiddo, she has a point. We’ll still work on the basics, if it makes you feel any better.”

A week passed. Nigredo barely spent time with Albedo and Rubedo anymore, he realized--he hadn’t seen much of them since…

“...are Rubedo and Albedo okay?” Nigredo asked Citrine one day as they walked to the courtyard. “I haven’t seen them lately.”

“They’re fine, physically speaking,” Citrine responded. “Rubedo has been working alongside older units so that he’ll be able to cooperate with them when the time comes, and Albedo has been deemed innocent regarding that girl’s death. Yuriev is gradually including him in training exercises again.”

Nigredo could only nod in response.

The days wore on. One day, Malos and Nigredo were having a mock fight, and Malos lunged toward Nigredo with his wooden sword. Nigredo quickly brought up his arm to block the blow, and was rewarded with a light tap against his arm.

“Nope. You use your weapon to block, not your arm or any other part of your body, if you can’t dodge.”

Nigredo nodded as Malos stepped back. “Got it.”

Malos nodded in turn, then lunged again, though noticeably slower. Nigredo’s arm reacted before the rest of him did, and blocked the blow again.

“...oh boy,” Malos muttered. “We gotta work on that.”

It was in the middle of the second week that Nigredo finally got to see Rubedo again in the cafeteria. Dark bags hung under his eyes, but he tried to look somewhat collected when he saw Nigredo.

“Nigredo, are you okay?” he asked. “I haven’t seen you in forever!”

“I’m fine, are  _ you _ okay?” Nigredo asked in turn.

Rubedo faltered, but nodded. “...I’ll be fine. Just...gotta push on these next few weeks, right?”

“Right. How have the older units been?” Nigredo wondered.

“They can be real smartasses when they want to be,” Rubedo grumbled. “Ugh. I’m not looking forward to working with them in the field. What about you, though, where have you been?”

“Physical training.” It wasn’t a lie, but… “Wanted to be at least a little tougher for the road ahead.”

Rubedo nodded. “Makes sense. Don’t push yourself, okay?”

“I won’t. You either, Rubedo,” Nigredo said.

It was the start of the last week leading to the operation when Lora suddenly jolted as though she had been struck, and looked up. “...no. No way.”

“Lora?” Jin asked, and Malos stopped mid-combat, looking toward them with curious eyes.

“What’s up?”

Lora didn’t respond right away, stepping towards the far end of the courtyard. “She can’t be. I thought…”

Something clicked in Malos’s head, especially as Lora suddenly took off running. “...so, she’s back, then?”

“Wait up!” Mikhail shouted as he and Jin ran after Lora.

“So,” Malos said, turning to Akhkos and Patroka, who had stopped mid-lecture to watch the scene, “do you wanna bet Haze will punch me like Lora did?”

“Oh, she will,” Patroka said as though she were discussing the weather. “I’d be more surprised if she didn’t.”

“Who?” Nigredo and Citrine asked at once.

“Haze!” Lora’s voice cried out, and not long later she ran back to the others with a brown haired lady in white and red clothing in tow. “Guys, Haze, she’s--!”

“Malos!” Haze cried, and immediately ran toward Malos. Before anyone could intervene, she launched herself at Malos and tackled him to the ground. “You…!!”

“Not again!” Nigredo yelped. “Don’t hurt him!”

The air suddenly grew thick around Malos as Haze summoned her staff. “You will pay for every life you stole from Torna, Malos!” she shouted.

“Haze, no, stop!” Lora ordered, and Haze halted mid-swing, turning to look at Lora.

“...what?”

“I know how it sounds, but don’t hurt Malos, we’re on the same side right now!” Lora said. The air returned to normal, and Haze hopped off Malos.

“I have many questions, Lady Lora,” Haze said, staring up at Lora with a confused look. “Why are you and Malos on the same side?”

Lora took a deep breath. “So uh. We’re going to have to explain later, there’s a lot we need to catch you up on. Where did Jin and Mikhail go, I swore they were right there…”

Jin quickly returned to Lora, while Mikhail trailed after him. “How...are you three...so fast…” Mikhail panted.

“Mikhail?!” Haze gasped before running up to him. “I thought...you were a child last, weren’t you? What happened?”

Mikhail and Jin exchanged glances. “Haze...do you remember what happened after Malos and Mythra fought?” Jin asked, carefully.

“We were headed to a refugee camp, weren’t we?” Haze asked in turn.

“...ooh boy,” Malos muttered, quietly.

Lora sighed. “Nigredo, Citrine, both of you head inside now. We need to talk with Haze,” she said.

Haze was, as Malos guessed, not happy about what she had missed. Or what she had been used for. The moment they had finished explaining just what Amalthus had used her core crystal to do, a fierce wind whipped around them.

“If Amalthus ever returns, I will see to it he never hurts anyone again myself,” she vowed.

“Lora promised the same thing,” Malos said, and the wind died down. Haze smiled.

“Good.”

Haze gradually warmed up to Nigredo and Citrine over that last week, though she mostly kept to Lora and Jin. Malos didn’t mind, all he cared about was getting Nigredo through this operation alive and not possessed by Yuriev right now.

That last day, Malos charged at Gaignun, bringing his wooden sword down for an overhead strike, and Nigredo blocked with his sword at last. Malos grinned.

“You finally got the hang of it! I’m proud of you, kiddo!”

Nigredo’s eyes lit up, and Malos could sense joy on his end of the link. “Thank you, Malos!”

Malos ruffled his hair. “Alright, that wraps it up for today. Good job.”

Nigredo beamed, but his face slowly turned to worry. “...Malos? The descent operation is tomorrow, right? How are you going to be there?”

“We’ll figure something out. Mikhail’s our pilot for a reason,” Malos responded. “I promise I’ll be there, okay? Go get some rest, you and your sister.”

Nigredo nodded, handed his wooden sword back to Malos, and Citrine rejoined him as they walked back inside. Malos turned to Mikhail, face instantly turning serious. “Think you’ll be able to pilot a ship to get us off this planet?”

“I’ve been looking into how to pilot ships in this world, they shouldn’t be too separate from our ships,” Mikhail responded.

Malos nodded, then turned to Patroka and Akhos as he handed the wooden swords to her. “Are you two ready? We don’t know what we’re going to see with this U-DO.”

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Patroka responded, firmly.

“I’m not about to back out now, Malos,” Akhos said as he adjusted his glasses. “Wherever Patroka goes, I’ll follow.”

“Alright. And you three,” Malos said, looking at Lora, Jin, and Haze, “I can’t promise this is going to be an easy mission. I don’t have future vision like Mythra does, so I can’t say how this is all going to work out. But once this is over and those kids are safe, and Yuriev is dead as can possibly be, you don’t have to stick around.”

Jin huffed. “Malos, you don’t have to keep saying that.”

“I can and will. Jin, you don’t need to hang around me anymore, especially with Lora and Haze back,” Malos pointed out. “You aren’t required to be by my side anymore.”

“Malos, why do you keep trying to push me away?” Jin questioned. “We were allies--”

“Only because your Driver was killed, alright?” Malos interrupted. “Look. I know Lora won’t ever forgive me. And I’d rather not drag you into any sort of mess with her because of what’s between us. First chance you get, you three can live without having to deal with me again, okay?”

Haze, Jin, and Lora had expressions on their faces Malos couldn’t quite parse, and he turned away. “...I won’t say no if you join me, but I won’t force you to stay.”

“..thank you,” Lora said quietly.

“Get some rest, all of you,” Malos ordered, raising his voice. There was a feeling in his core he couldn’t describe beyond dread--tomorrow promised chaos at the very least.

“We have to be as ready as we’ll ever be.”


	11. you can’t win me, I can’t be beat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I won’t hurt you  
> Unless  
> YOU CHEAT

Dawn came, and Malos was startled awake by a strong sense of anxiety. Not his, he quickly realized, but Nigredo’s.

“Malos? Are you awake?” Nigredo asked as though he were a child waking his parents in the middle of the night.

“Yeah, I’m up kiddo,” Malos responded, quickly getting up and hopping off the roof. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m...I’m nervous, I don’t know what’s going to happen today,” Nigredo confessed, looking down at his feet. “It feels like something’s going to go wrong today like it did with Sakura.”

“I promise it’ll be okay,” Malos assured, resting a hand gently on Nigredo’s shoulder. “I’ll be there. In hiding, but I’ll be there to make sure U-DO is dead.”

Nigredo’s anxiety barely abated, and Malos frowned. “...what else are you worried about?”

“...just, everything really. I don’t really want to go today…” Nigredo murmured.

“I know, kiddo. If it helps, you and your siblings just have to get through today, and we’ll work to get you all out of there. Promise,” Malos said.

Nigredo nodded. “...can I stay with you until it’s time to go?”

“Of course,” Malos replied, sitting down and letting Nigredo sit beside him. The rest of the Alrest group eventually woke up, and joined Malos and Nigredo.

“Are you alright?” Lora asked, gently.

“Anxious,” Nigredo mumbled. “I want today to be over with already.”

“I can relate. Just hang in there, okay? We’re going to help see today through,” Lora assured. Nigredo nodded slowly in response.

The sun gradually climbed higher and higher into the sky, and eventually Nigredo stood up. “Okay...it’s almost time to go.”

“You’re gonna do great,” Malos assured, and the words felt like poison in his throat. Yuriev was going to...Nigredo might--

Suddenly, guards entered the courtyard, surrounding them on all sides. These weren’t regular security guards, Malos realized—they all bore a red and white symbol on their clothing, and something about that made Malos’s stomach churn.

“URTV unit 669, we need you to come with us,” the one standing closest to Nigredo declared. “Dr. Yuriev requires your presence.”

Malos gritted his teeth. “ _Shit._ ”

“I...I’m not going anywhere,” Nigredo said, fighting back the tremor in his voice.

“This is not up for discussion,” the lead guard responded, and the others trained their guns on the group. “We have orders to shoot your friends if you don’t come with us.”

“You wouldn’t dare!” Lora shouted as the guards drew closer. Without a moment to spare, several guards crowded around Nigredo and shepherded him inside.

“Malos! Malos, help me!” Nigredo cried out as he was swept back into the facility. Malos drew his sword, and half the guns immediately aimed toward him.

“Let my kid go!” Malos snarled. “Or else you get to see my power firsthand!”

“Fire at will!” the lead guard shouted, and several things happened at once. Guns fired, dark purple fire erupted around the group to shield them, and the air grew nigh-frigid.

“Malos, we can handle it from here,” Jin said, his sword already drawn with the rest of their group following suit with their own weapons. “Go save Nigredo.”

“Meet me at the front doors. I’m going to personally make sure this is where Yuriev dies,” Malos replied.

Jin nodded, and the purple fire dissipated as Malos made a run for the door. The guards were shouting in confusion, not expecting such resistance, and before they could shoot at them again the remaining members of Torna, both group and titan, lashed out. The last thing Malos heard as the door shut behind him was the sound of Battle Arts being called out and used, and he silently thanked Jin as he ran deeper into the eerily quiet facility.

—

“Let me go! Let me _go!”_

Nigredo struggled as much as he could as he was forced down the twists and turns of the hallways, but it was no use. Contacting Rubedo and Albedo over the link would be useless, they were likely already on their way to Miltia, and Citrine…

Malos wasn’t too far away, he realized. Nowhere near close enough for an ether link, but just close enough Nigredo sensed fear and sheer, unadulterated _rage_ on Malos’s end. If he could just hurry—

Yuriev beat him to the punch, approaching the guards with arms folded behind his back. “Thank you, gentlemen. If you’ll excuse us.”

Without hesitation, Yuriev grabbed Nigredo’s arm and dragged him to his office. Nigredo dug in his heels as hard as he could.

“Let me GO!” he shouted.

Yuriev growled. “Stop acting like such a child!” he snapped.

“No!” Nigredo argued back. “I want to be with Rubedo and Albedo!”

Yuriev turned his head pointedly away from Nigredo, and something inside Nigredo burned like fire. Yuriev barely cared about any of them, and now he was purposely separating him from his brothers??

Nigredo’s eyes glowed a brilliant green, and a bolt struck Yuriev’s hand. He let go of Nigredo as though he had been burned, and a sharp pain lanced through Nigredo’s head. He whimpered as he clutched his head, and that gave Yuriev enough time to grab him and continue dragging him down the hall.

“This was a mistake. I shouldn’t have given you or the other variants any emotions, or let you near that man for that matter,” Yuriev said, voice as cold as ice.

They reached the office, where Citrine and more of those guards were waiting. Yuriev finally let go of Nigredo as the doors slammed shut behind them.

“To think everything was almost ruined because of one little group. No matter.” Yuriev turned to face Nigredo. “I won’t be interrupted any further.”

He held out a hand. “Come here, Nigredo.”

Malos was closing in on them. Nigredo swallowed the lump in his throat. “No.”

A loud bang punctuated his response. “I’m abandoning my mission!”

Another loud bang. Nigredo raised his voice as he shouted, “I won’t follow your orders anymore!”

The door finally caved in, violet embers drifting off it as Malos stood in the doorway. The look on his face could have killed if he had that kind of power, though over the link Malos was deeply relieved he was in time.

“Sorry I ran a little late, kiddo,” he said, stepping beside him and summoning his sword. The ether link glowed a brilliant blue, and Yuriev glared at Malos.

“So at last, we meet.”

“Hiya, Yuriev. My pals and I have heard a lot about you, and let me just say that none of it redeemed you in my eyes,” Malos growled.

“Fire!” Yuriev barked, and the guards immediately shot at Malos. Malos conjured an ether shield with a lazy flick of his hand, and the bullets fell to the ground in front of him like they were nothing.

“Pathetic,” Malos said, stepping forward. “Are a bunch of guns all you have?”

Yuriev stepped back, eyes widening. “How did you…?!”

“It’s simple, really--I’m an Aegis. And it won’t matter to you very shortly,” Malos responded.

The ensuing scene was almost too quick to see--Malos seemed to almost teleport to each guard and dispatch them individually, some with a quick stab to a vital organ, others with a throat slit, and Nigredo had to look away when Malos aimed for the head with one of the guards. Yuriev and Citrine watched in horror as the men around them dropped like flies, blood spreading across the floor. Malos flicked his sword to get some of the blood off it and approached Yuriev. Citrine stepped in front of him, as if to shield him, before Malos casually picked her up with one hand and set her off to the side in the same manner you would set aside an unruly pet.

“G-Get away! Stop! Stay back!” Yuriev commanded, backing away from Malos until his back was right against the computer console. “Don’t touch--”

His plea was cut off as Malos grabbed him by the throat and raised him up. There was an almost manic grin on Malos’s face as he looked into Yuriev’s eyes, eager gray meeting horrified blue.

“You know, I could just list off all your shortcomings with raising your kids and all, but I think I should just get to the point, wouldn’t you say?” Malos asked as he raised his sword.

“Y...You wouldn’t…” Yuriev choked out.

“Say hi to Amalthus in hell for me!” Malos shouted before driving his sword deep into Yuriev’s chest. He could sense _something_ coming out of Yuriev’s body as he finally gave up the ghost, and scoffed.

“Sorry, you’re not going anywhere.” His hands were set alight with purple fire, and Yuriev’s corpse and...essence? Whatever it was, something _screamed_ in Malos’s ears as Yuriev’s body disintegrated into violet ashes, a scream that reminded Malos heavily of Amalthus, before it stopped. The corpse was now nothing but ash and smoke, and whatever it was that was trying to escape was deader than dead.

Nigredo was safe.

Malos dismissed his sword, and turned around. Citrine was staring at what used to be her father in wide-eyed shock, while Nigredo was cowering against a wall, eyes shut. Malos looked down at himself and winced at the blood covering him.

“Nigredo? Are you okay?” Malos asked, kneeling down beside him. Nigredo slowly nodded, and Malos let out a sigh he didn’t realize he was holding. Over their link, Nigredo was inwardly freaking out but he was unharmed. “Okay. Okay, you’re safe.”

“You...You killed him,” Citrine murmured, and Malos held back a groan as she stared up at him with wide eyes. “You killed Yuriev.”

“You’re welcome,” Malos responded, almost automatically.

“How could you?!” Citrine shouted. “He was our father!”

“He was a pile of shit,” Malos retorted. “He didn’t care about you or any of the other kids, no matter how much you think otherwise.”

With a wild cry, Citrine charged at him, but Malos held her back with a single hand. “You...You!!”

“Trust me, you’re going to thank me later,” he said as he swooped her up in one arm. He turned to Nigredo and asked, “Kiddo, are you okay to move? We gotta catch up with your siblings now.”

“I...I am,” Nigredo responded, shakily standing up. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Malos murmured, resting a hand on his head. “C’mon, let’s meet back up with the others.”

—

Lora found herself pacing around the front door, guards KO’d all around her and the others as they waited for Malos.

“Where is he? Maybe I should have gone with him to make sure…” she murmured.

The doors suddenly opened, and Malos stepped out. He had blood splattered over his armor, with one furious Citrine tucked under one arm and Nigredo trailing behind him with wide eyes.

“And?” Mikhail prompted, a tense note in his voice.

“Yuriev is dead as can possibly be,” Malos declared. “Nothing but cinders now.”

Lora and Mikhail let out equally relieved sighs. “Thank the Architect,” she said.

“Do we know where the shipyard is? We need to haul ass to the other kids now,” Malos pointed out.

“Probably in the back of the facility, if I had to guess,” Akhos said. “We need to collect any info we can find on the way to a ship.”

“And what do we do about the facility itself? I don’t feel comfortable leaving this place standing, considering what it was used for,” Mikhail piped up.

A grin spread across Malos’s face. “I’m more than happy to burn it to the ground.”

Nigredo made a noise that wiped the grin off Malos’s face, and he sighed. “It’s okay if you’re attached to the place, kid. Ugh, never mind burning the place for now.”

The party proceeded through the facility again for what Lora hoped would be the last time. Any guards were quickly dispatched one way or another, Malos lagging behind with the kids in tow while the others fought.

“This is almost too surreal,” Lora admitted as they stopped by Yuriev’s office for a brief moment. “Never thought I’d be willingly working with Malos like this, never mind...y’know. This situation as is.”

She peered into the office as Akhos and Mikhail ducked in, and cringed. “All those corpses...and is that pile of ashes…”

Citrine had quieted down for a brief moment before raising her voice at Malos. “You murderer, he--”

“Oh for the love of Alrest, _stop,_ ” Malos groaned. “I know you wanted to believe your dad cared about you, but he was a pile of shit who didn’t care nearly as much as you wish he did.”

“And how do you know that?” Citrine questioned.

“Anyone who doesn’t have therapists on hand for kids meant to kill gods isn’t exactly parent material,” Malos deadpanned.

Akhos exited the room. “Mikhail’s getting the rest of what he deemed important to grab from Yuriev’s computer. Nigredo, it...really was a good thing Malos saved you when he did.”

“Why?” Nigredo asked in a small voice.

Akhos let out a slow breath. “...he was planning on using you as a backup body.”

Nigredo stared up at Akhos with wide eyes. “Wh...What?!”

“He intended to find a way to die, and then possess your body. Mikhail’s scraping through the files to find out how he could have done it, but as for the why...my bet was he wanted some form of eternal life. We saw plenty of people like that back on Alrest, so desperate to avoid death that no cost would be too great,” Akhos explained.

“But...But that doesn’t…” Nigredo shook his head. “Why me??”

“We couldn’t find why it had to be you,” Akhos said. “We do know, however, that in case that failed...Citrine would have been used instead.”

Citrine looked away from Akhos. “...we are meant to be tools. Father said it himself, we have no use for emotions,” she said, but it was clear she didn’t fully believe it herself.

“I am _not_ a tool, or a weapon, or anything like that!” Nigredo argued, voice shaking. “I-I didn’t want to be some second body for him, I...I…”

He whimpered, and Malos gripped his shoulder gently. “...he’s gone now. I made sure of that,” he assured.

“I’m sorry, Nigredo,” Akhos apologized. “I wish we could discuss this more, but we have to get going once Mikhail’s gotten what he can--your siblings need our help.”

Nigredo just nodded. “...it...it isn’t fair,” he murmured.

“No, it isn’t,” Malos agreed as Mikhail exited the room.

“If Yuriev somehow came back from _that,_ Malos, I’d be worried,” he said, frowning.

“Did you get the location of where the shipyard here is?” Akhos questioned.

Mikhail nodded. “Yeah, I did. C’mon, let’s go!”

\--

Nigredo and Citrine were quiet as the group finally got onto a ship, Mikhail instantly taking over as pilot. Malos sat with the two as Mikhail got the ship started and off into space, looking around the place. It was smaller, much smaller than the Marsenes, but Mikhail deemed it worthy of flight, so Malos didn’t care right now.

No, his bigger concern was Nigredo at the moment. The wave of emotions he sensed over their link was enough to make him fret, no matter how stoic a face Nigredo was trying to pull at the moment. Citrine...did not look like she wanted to even be near Malos right now, so that left Malos free to wrap an arm around Nigredo.

“...did he...ever care about us?” Nigredo murmured.

“He had to,” Citrine said, as though she were trying to convince herself too. “He had to have cared, otherwise it...none of what he did, why…”

Malos’s gaze drifted to the windows, and he watched as they left the planet’s atmosphere and rose into the starry expanse of space. Despite that he was no stranger to the sight of stars, distant planets, and other objects of space...something about being here, not in Alrest (or even the Low Orbit Station, for that matter), made something ache in Malos’s chest. Did he actually _miss_ Alrest, for all the hell he had gone through there?

“How long until we reach Miltia?” Malos asked Mikhail.

“Still trying to figure that out,” Mikhail admitted. “These controls are somewhat similar to ships back home, but they’re different like...okay, you know those generic-looking Blades we’ve seen other people with on Alrest and how they tend to look similar but have little differences that set them apart? That’s kind of what I’m dealing with here. Also hey, _we’re going into space for the first time since the World Tree and I’m kind of freaking out about that?_ ”

Malos shrugged. “It’s just space.”

“It’s not ‘just space’, we didn’t have this kind of technology back home! This is way different than just sailing around the Cloud Sea! Aren’t you excited?” Mikhail asked, eyes alight as he turned to Malos for a brief moment. Indeed, the rest of their group sans Nigredo and Citrine were watching the stars pass the windows, quiet as could be.

“I mean, sort of? It’s hard to explain,” Malos muttered.

Mikhail shrugged and turned back to flying the ship. “It shouldn’t take longer than a few hours if I can figure out the map system on this thing.”

“Got it. Nigredo, are you feeling any better?” Malos asked.

“...don’t know,” Nigredo admitted. “I don’t know how I’ll tell Rubedo or Albedo about this…or any of the other units for that matter.”

“We’ll find a way,” was all Malos could say. “Just rest a bit, okay?”

Nigredo opened his mouth to reply, then froze. There was a sudden spike of fear over their link, followed by horror.

“R...Rubedo?!”

“Huh? Kid?” Malos prompted.

Nigredo stood up. “M-Mikhail, you have to hurry to Miltia now! Something’s wrong!”

“What makes you say that? I mean, I’m going as fast as I can with this thing, but--”

Nigredo shook his head, eyes wide. “No...no no no…”

Malos was certain his heart would have dropped into his stomach as he looked up to Mikhail as he recalled what they had found out weeks ago. “Oh, _shit._ Step on it, Mikhail!!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so I'm gonna make no bones about it, yuriev's dead-dead. like no chance of resurrecting period.
> 
> if you were looking forward to malos having to be yuriev's blade or something along those lines, sorry but that scene where malos annihilates yuriev was the primary motivation for this fic. along with found family and giving a happier ending to xenosaga in general. if you don't like it, i encourage you to just walk away and not complain, or write your own take on malos and the torna crew being in saga. for real i'd like to see other takes on this sort of thing--
> 
> anyways, again, yuriev ain't coming back from this. happy gaignun day!


	12. i no longer have a choice but to pretend i am brave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> for a soldier has to be brave

As Miltia came closer and closer into view, Nigredo clung to Malos like a lifeline. He had barely spoken since that little outburst, but over their link was a maelstrom of anxiety and dread. Malos gently held him in return, eyes glued on the window outside.

Lora was pacing while Jin and Haze stood by, weapons at the ready, while Patroka and Akhos stood close by the ship’s exit in the event they were about to fly into an ambush.

“Nigredo, can you tell us anything else about what we’re about to see?” Malos asked.

“...Rubedo, he just said ‘I’m sorry’ and then…” Nigredo murmured before burying his head into Malos’s side. Malos sighed quietly.

“Didn’t he ever say we’re telepathic?” Citrine asked, Malos almost jolting at her finally speaking up. “Us URTVs are able to communicate telepathically with one another.”

“No. No he didn’t mention that,” Malos said, filing that away mentally. “So Rubedo talked with him, and then just went silent?”

Citrine nodded. “...it wasn’t just him who received the message, however. It was directed to all of us.”

“I see. Do you think he may have…” Malos began.

“I don’t know. I just know that Miltia is still intact, if the planet we’re flying to is any indication, but beyond that…”

Citrine fell quiet, and Malos huffed impatiently. “Can you contact any other URTV? Like Albedo?”

“I can try,” Citrine replied before closing her eyes in concentration. It took all of one minute before her eyes shot open and she gasped. “...no, they…!”

Dread froze Malos’s stomach. “What happened?”

“They might have been infected by U-DO! If the planet is still standing, and Rubedo apologized like that…”

Citrine looked to Nigredo, both with wide eyes, and Malos grit his teeth. “Mikhail, how much longer until we land?”

“Not too long now,” Mikhail answered, gripping the controls tightly. “Prepare for landing.”

—

They landed not too far from what Malos assumed was where the descent operation was taking place. The sky overhead was dark, not a star to be seen, and not too far from the ship was the city itself, awash in fire and lights of all kinds. Nigredo and Citrine stood silhouetted against the flames, staring at the city.

“...the other units didn’t do all of this,” Citrine said, as though it was meant as some form of comfort. “There were other forces at work here.”

Lora shuddered, gripping her arm, and Haze and Jin exchanged pained looks. “...we need to hurry. Citrine, do you know where the URTVs are?” she questioned.

“Labyrinthos. We can’t miss it, it’s a rather large building, and if I know where we landed then it shouldn’t be too long a walk,” Citrine responded.

“Lead the way. I’ll keep an eye out for any potential threats,” Patroka offered, stepping to Citrine’s side as she summoned her bardiche.

The rest of the party fell into line, with Citrine and Patroka leading, Nigredo and Malos not too far behind, and the rest of the team following in a loose line of sorts with Mikhail taking the rear. As they entered the city, the sounds of fighting could be heard all around them, loud enough Malos summoned his sword and started looking around them.

_ Connection point within 5 kilometers. Request connection? _

The moment that sentence pinged in his head, Malos grimaced. It couldn’t have been the Conduit, not if that thing was gone, but...they wound up here, didn’t they? Maybe it was something to do with the Conduit? No, he didn’t want to connect to that stupid thing, especially if it was what had been nagging him since he arrived in this world.

“Are you okay?” Nigredo asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine, kiddo,” Malos responded before turning to Citrine. “How far is this Labyrinthos place?”

“If I’m correct, it’s about five kilometers from here, give or take,” Citrine responded.

Malos muttered something under his breath that sounded roughly like “Ah, shit”.

All of a sudden, a beam of light somewhere in the distance shot up into the sky, and the party came stumbling to a halt. Not just out of shock at the beam suddenly appearing, but…

Jin and Haze were the first to fall, Haze desperately trying to stay standing with her weapon as a crutch. Lora’s eyes went wide as she stopped by her Blades.

“Jin? Haze? What’s wrong??”

Akhos and Patroka fell to their knees next, both clutching at their ears with their eyes screwed shut.

“That noise...what the hell is that awful noise?!” Akhos hissed.

Mikhail fell to one knee, but didn’t quite go down like the others. “Agh! Where is it coming from?”

Malos’s legs wobbled, but he forced himself to stay standing. There was a sound in his ears he couldn’t describe, it sounded like a woman singing, but--

“Wh...What’s going on?!” Nigredo gasped. “Malos??”

“Crap...kid, can’t you hear that song?” Malos questioned. “Or is this only meant to target Blades?”

“I...I can hear it too, but it’s not hurting me…” Nigredo said, hesitantly.

“Who was this meant to target??” Mikhail groaned, forcing himself up. “Lora, what about you?”

Lora shook her head. “I don’t hear anything, I just know it’s hurting Jin and Haze!”

“We—“ Akhos stood on shaking legs, Patroka moving to catch him in case. “—We can’t linger. We’ll be fine.”

Malos watched as Lora moved to support Haze and Jin before cursing sharply under his breath. Targeted or otherwise, he and Mikhail were the only two who could reasonably fight. This was just fucking dandy.

They staggered onward, the song in their ears never changing tempo or volume—it just repeated those notes, over and over and over and—

Nigredo stumbled to a halt, and Malos blinked a few times. Dead ahead were a couple of kids in URTV uniform, blonde hair and blue eyes on both of them.

“The standard units,” Citrine said. “That look in their eyes…”

One raised his head toward them, and Nigredo flinched as though he had been struck.

“Uh, hey, my pals and I are here to help you two and the other URTVs,” Malos greeted. “I’m Malos, and—“

The kids aimed their guns at them, and Malos hissed under his breath as he conjured an ether shield with considerably more effort than it took just a couple of hours ago.

“They’re infected. Nothing can be done,” Citrine said as a wave of distress came from Nigredo’s side of the link.

“We can’t kill them, they’re  _ kids! _ ” Lora protested.

Gunfire ricocheted off the shield, and Malos gritted his teeth. “Can we have a debate about this later, presumably when they aren’t trying to kill us??” he asked.

Akhos was the first among them to get on the offensive, nocking an arrow in his bow and firing at the one closer to Malos. The arrow struck one squarely in the chest, and he tumbled to the ground shortly after.

“One down!”

The remaining unit paused for only a moment to look at his fallen brother, and that gave Malos the chance to dash forward and stab him.

“Sorry, kid,” Malos murmured as the kid sank to the ground. He retracted his blade with a grimace, and looked back at the group.

“...we’ve gotta go. Now.”

\--

The path to Labyrinthos was littered with infected URTVs, much to Malos’s chagrin...and Nigredo’s horror. They all attacked the group, deaf to any pleas to stop, and Nigredo fell quiet after the fifth encounter with the infected units. The song, whatever it was, didn’t slow down one bit.

Lora kept quiet as well, though Malos heard the occasional muffled gasp or horrified mutter after a fight. “Architect above…”

Labyrinthos stood high above them, the doors broken but the building in good shape otherwise.

_ Connection point within 1 kilometer. Request connection? _

“Shut  _ up, _ ” Malos hissed under his breath as they entered the building. Compared to the fire and violence outside, the building was quiet, almost deafeningly so. Not without its share of destruction, however—blood was smeared on the walls and splattered on the floors, corpses of URTVs and adults who Malos couldn’t name alike decorating the space, and a pinkish-purple tinge hung in the air.

Citrine looked around, a frown slowly growing on her face. “...the mission failed terribly.”

She shot a look at Malos. “Perhaps if Yuriev were still alive—“

“I’m  _ not  _ having this argument with you right now!” Malos snapped, perhaps harsher than intended. Citrine took a step back, while Nigredo flinched away. Malos paused, then sighed. “...I’m sorry. Let’s just try and—“

A shuffling noise interrupted him, and the group froze for a moment. A kid’s voice followed from underneath a desk.

“Hello?”

Nigredo gasped and dashed toward the desk. “Rubedo!!”

The redhead Malos had seen forever and a half ago peeked out from behind the desk before scurrying out and hugging Nigredo.

“Nigredo! You’re safe, you…”

Rubedo paused. “...you weren’t here when…?”

“Rubedo, what happened to the other units?” Nigredo asked, gently pulling away from the hug. “Where’s Albedo?”

Rubedo suddenly looked much more pained, gripping his wrist. “...I severed the connection. I left the other units at U-DO’s mercy…”

“Why?” Nigredo asked, quietly.

Rubedo hung his head, and all Malos could hear was “...scared…” Mikhail looked worriedly to Malos for a moment before taking a step toward Rubedo.

“Hey, it’ll be alright. We’re here now,” he said, and Rubedo jerked his head up.

“...Nigredo, who are these people? And why is Citrine here?”

“Oh, right, we never introduced them to you,” Nigredo realized, almost muttering. Citrine said nothing, simply glowering at Malos.

“Introductions are gonna have to wait. I’m Malos, and that’s all we can do for now,” Malos said.

Rubedo squinted at Malos before saying, “So you weren’t imaginary…”

That actually got Malos to stifle a chuckle while Nigredo groaned. “Okay! Okay, Rubedo, where is Albedo?”

Rubedo cringed at that. “I lost track of him after...after I broke the connection. He might still be back where U-DO is…”

Malos twirled his sword. “Lead the way. We’re gonna make sure this U-DO thing is deader than dead,” he declared.

Rubedo shook his head. “You can’t.”

“Kid, trust me, I’ll be able to—“

“No, you literally can’t kill U-DO,” Rubedo interrupted, looking away. “We were made to kill it, and it was…”

He trailed off, and Nigredo cleared his throat. “Give him a chance, Rubedo! He’s really strong! And I won’t leave Albedo behind if I can help it!”

“...fine. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Rubedo turned around and proceeded deeper into the facility, with the rest of Nigredo’s group following after him.

The facility lived up to its name alright, with twisting halls that seemed to stretch on forever until Malos had to start sketching a mental note of their path. Bodies of those guards with the armbands were occasionally strewn across their path, and all Malos could think was ‘Good riddance.’

The pink-purple tinge, whatever it was, grew more and more present as they drew deeper into Labyrinthos’ depths, and something in Malos’s core started to feel...wrong, not unlike when Mythra had shattered it.

It was probably nothing. It had to be nothing, Malos couldn’t afford to fuss over this right now.

They finally came to a halt at a large, circular room with metal platforms rising above them far beyond their view. The pink-purple miasma was  _ everywhere _ now, and Malos swore he could see pulses of red out of the corner of his eye. The wrong feeling in his core intensified, and he grit his teeth.

“U-DO! Where are you?” Malos raised his voice. “I’ve come here to fight you!”

“You can’t fight it,” a kid’s voice responded from above their heads.

“Albedo?” Nigredo called.

Albedo stepped out of the darkness and onto one of the metal platforms, face emotionless but eyes wide. “You can’t fight U-DO.”

“Kid, get down from there!” Malos ordered. “We’re here to take you and your siblings to safety!”

Albedo looked down at him, and Malos’s core started pinging a wordless warning to just  _ get out, something is wrong here and for all the power you have, this isn’t something you could handle, just GET OUT— _

“Jin? Haze?”

Lora’s voice snapped Malos away from whatever was going on with his core, and he risked a glance back at the others. Citrine was carefully observing the situation, Nigredo and Rubedo were worried, and the Blades...they were in miserable shape. Malos had never seen Patroka or Akhos look frightened before, much less Mikhail or Jin, but he decided then and there he didn’t want to see those terrified looks again.

“Albedo, kid, c’mon, it’s dangerous to stay here,” Malos said, turning back to Albedo. “We can get you to—“

A purple energy ball launched at him cut him off. Malos grunted in pain as he raised an arm, taking the brunt of the attack.

“Damn it!” he cursed, tightening his grip on his sword. “Torna, c’mon!”

None of the Blades moved, and Lora looked worriedly back and forth. “Malos, we have to retreat. We’re in no shape to fight.”

Malos sensed distress and guilt from Nigredo, and he shook his head. “I said I’d help Nigredo’s siblings, and that’s what I’m gonna do!”

Albedo leaped off the platform and landed with what Malos was 90% certain was the sound of crunching bones. He staggered forward a moment before purple light shone from his legs and he glared toward Rubedo.

“You left me behind.”

“Albedo, I didn’t--I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to--!” Rubedo responded.

Albedo’s face contorted into one of pure rage. “ _ You abandoned me! _ ” he screamed, purple energy gathering around his hands. “ _ YOU ABANDONED ME,  _ **_RUBEDO!_ ** ”

He fired off energy ball after energy ball, and Malos had to lunge to block them with his blade. His head was pounding between that song and what probably was U-DO infecting the area, but--

“C’mon, focus on me!” he shouted to Albedo. “Take your aggression out on me, Albedo!”

Albedo switched his glare to Malos and paused, tilting his head ever so slightly. “Nigredo?” he asked in a near-whisper.

Before he could react in time, Malos sent a shockwave of purple fire that cleaved Albedo’s arm off. He stared at the embers burning at the stump before it started to glow purple and grew back. It took longer this time for the glowing to stop than earlier…

“Interesting,” Albedo murmured. “Very interesting.”

He looked back toward Malos, a smile cracking across his face. “Power fitting for an executioner.”

Some mixture of emotions Malos had no time to sort through flared from Nigredo’s end of the link, and he scowled at Albedo. “Just stand down already, Albedo! We’re trying to help you!”

“I don’t want any help! Especially from the people Rubedo abandoned me for!” Albedo spat.

“W-Wait! Albedo!” Nigredo raised his voice, stepping forward. “Please, stop!”

Albedo actually stopped in place, looking at Nigredo as he continued to carefully, slowly step forward as though he were walking through a minefield.

“We can help you, we don’t have to worry about Da…”

Nigredo hesitated before correcting himself, “We don’t have to worry about Yuriev anymore. We don’t have to be weapons anymore. Please...just come with us.”

Nigredo stood right in front of Albedo, who seemed to be pondering over Nigredo’s words.

“Please, Albedo?” Nigredo asked.

Albedo looked at Nigredo for a moment longer before he suddenly pulled him into a hug. Malos sighed in relief, walking toward Albedo. “Alright kiddos, let’s get going—“

“Okay, Nigredo.”

Nigredo gasped sharply, and Malos stopped dead in his tracks.

“We won’t have to worry about Yuriev anymore,” Albedo said with an eerie calmness as red blossomed on Nigredo’s clothes. He stepped back, knife tip stained red, and Malos charged forward with a wordless cry.

His vision went red—maybe because of the song, maybe because of U-DO, he didn’t know. He just kept swinging and stabbing, over and over and over and over—

“Malos,  _ stop! _ ”

A voice broke through his haze, and he found himself staring down at Albedo. His limbs had been cut off, blood gushing onto the ground from the various places Malos had stabbed him in. Albedo was glaring at him, purple light slowly regenerating what had been lopped off.

Nigredo was lying on the ground not too far away, clearly in pain, while Mikhail was kneeling by him.

“We need to get out of here. The wound looks bad,” Mikhail said.

Malos dropped his sword, letting it dissipate, before he scooped up Nigredo wordlessly. He could hear Albedo shouting at him, but it went through one ear and out the other as he and the rest of his group left.

\--

The group stumbled out of Labyrinthos, Malos holding Nigredo close as though he could slip away at any moment. He was still alive, but the connection felt so  _ weak _ …

“Let...Let me try to heal him,” Akhos offered, and Malos wordlessly kneeled down so Akhos could get closer. He held his hands over Nigredo’s wounds, and static fizzled from Akhos’s hands until he suddenly jerked back and raised a hand to his head.

“Ghh...that song and Labyrinthos…”

“The ship is five kilometers away,” Citrine said, and for the first time Malos could actually hear a note of anxiety in her tone. “If we hurry…”

A beam of light shone down upon the group, and Malos looked up to see...mechas, his databanks filled in. Not like Siren or Aion, but maybe…

“Three URTV units identified,” a voice came out of the mecha. “Seven unknown people accompanying them.”

Malos held Nigredo close to his chest, teeth bared in a snarl. Lora staggered forward, still struggling to support Jin and Haze.

“Please, help us! Nigredo’s hurt, our medics are unable to heal him!” she pleaded.

The mecha lowered itself to the ground, and two people came out. One was an orange-haired man with amber-orange eyes, a stoic expression on his face. The other—

Malos’s eyes widened at the sight of the silver-haired man exiting the mecha, and his breath caught in his throat for a moment. It couldn’t be, but--

“Ontos?” he said in a near-whisper.

“It’s okay,” the silver-haired man said in a soothing tone. “We’re here to help.”

Malos felt any words he tried to say die in his throat, until the orange-haired man approached him. He gently handed Nigredo to him.

“Help him first. Please.”

The man simply nodded, while Ontos (?) looked over Rubedo and Citrine. “And you two?” he asked.

“...I’m fine. I didn’t get involved in the fighting,” Citrine said, lowering her gaze.

Rubedo shook his head. “Albedo…”

“We couldn’t help Albedo,” Malos found himself blurting out. “He was infected by the time we got here.”

“I see. Don’t worry—we’ll get you all to a hospital as soon as possible.”

Malos nodded, and, perhaps against better judgement, sent a ping out.

_ Ontos? _

An error message immediately greeted him, and he tried to push past the bitterness that burned in his core as he followed after the pair.

_ ERROR: ONTOS out of range. _


End file.
